


The underground Kingdom

by imagination_tier



Series: The underground Kingdom [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: And all that fun stuff, Chapter length may vary, Culture, Customs, History, How Do I Tag, I occasionally blather about, Maybe - Freeform, Narrator Frisk, Other, Worldbuilding, aiming for fluff, but the background may have angst, cause I'm straight and the most boring person i know, death mention, do i tag for temporary character death?, i'm still procrastinating garbage, if yes then I'm hella queer, just so you know, look at that, monsters and humans are different, oc are probably gonna be queer, puns aren't happening, resets happen, self discovery while tagging, stations of canon, still no idea what I'm doing, the more things change the more things stay the same, the underground should reflect that, wait is aro/ace on the spectrum?, what am I even doing, worldbuilding too, you did read that right
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-04
Updated: 2018-01-19
Packaged: 2018-11-08 23:19:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 22,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11091996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imagination_tier/pseuds/imagination_tier
Summary: sans doesn't know what possessed him to hide out in Mnt. Ebbot when he needed a break from everything, but he sure didn't anticipate falling down a hole into an entire civilization out to get his SOUL.Now he must journey through this strange place to hopefully return home.





	1. The war

**Author's Note:**

> This came to my while pondering about how different the game would be if humanity had gone underground. Just...Just take it.

_Long ago, two races ruled over earth: HUMANS and MONSTERS._

_One day, the monsters suddenly declared war upon the humans._

_Unwilling to fight for no reason, the humans did not fight back, going along with the monsters demands._

_With the power of seven Boss Monsters SOULS, all of humanity was imprisoned underneath a mighty mountain with a magic spell._

 

**_Many years later..._ **

 

**Mnt. Ebbot 201X**

 

Legend says that those that climb the mountain disappear forever.

 

 

 

**Name the fallen monster...**

 

**Is this name correct?**

sans

 


	2. Hiya!

sans groaned as he started to wake up.

'ugh, where am I?' He slowly started to get up, inspecting the cavern he had apparently fallen into. sans was shocked, to say the least, by how far down he appeared to be.

'I should probably investigate'. Mind made up, sans started to walk towards the large door to his right.

sans was surprised to see someone inside. A golden flower with five petals and rosy cheeks smiled sweetly at him.

''Hiya! I'm Buddy. Buddy the buttercup." Buddy giggled lightly to himself "Gee mister monster sir, don't ya know it's rude not to introduce yourself around here? Hi hi hi, guess I'll have to teach ya how things go around here mister." 

Sans was relieved to see another monster and smiled a bit. "OK little buddy, i'm listening." He moved to get closer.

Buddy giggled again" Ok! Ready, let's start!" Buddy initiated an Encounter and the world around them turned pitch black. sans was surprised to see that his SOUL looked a little different. It was still it's usual pearly white and pointing upwards, but there was a bright red aura surrounding it he has never seen before.

"Alrighty then, let's get started! See that heart? That's your SOUL, the very culmination of your being! Your SOUL starts of weak, but it can grow stronger if you get lots and lots of LV."

'LV, never heard of that before, maybe it's unique to the area?' sans was starting to feel a slight itch in the back of his skull, but he ignored it for now.

"What's LV stand for? Why LOVE silly! Do ya want some? Don't worry, I'll share some with ya!" Buddy winked cutely at that and summoned a bunch of small seed-like things.

"Down here ya share LOVE with ... Small white..."happy seeds". Ready?" The small things started moving towards him."Remember, chatch as many as ya can!" 

 _That_ got sans' attention. He knew that anything except green magic touching your SOUL was a **BAD**  idea, and swiftly moved to dodge out of the way.

Buddy seemed slightly miffed, but tried to keep his happy grin "Hey mister, ya missed em all. That's fine, let's try again." Buddy summoned some more, but sans moved out of the way again.

Buddy was getting very annoyed. "You do understand what I'm saying right? Or is this your idea of a joke or something? RUN. INTO. THE. BULLETS!!! Uhm I mean t-the the h-happy seeds h-h-hi hi hi?" Buddy desperately tried to keep his cool, but when sans dodged again his face morphed into a truly terrifying thing with a cruel smirk and freaky eyes. 

"Oooh, you know what's going on don't ya?? You just wanted to mess with me, didn't ya!?"

_**"YOU DIE."** _

Cackling maniacally Buddy summoned a ring of bullets, blocking any exits sans could've taken. The ring started shrinking as sans desperately tried to find a way out. Seeing no way out, sans closed his eyes sockets and waited for the blow. Never feeling it, sans opened his eyes sockets and saw a dark blue wall of fire blocking the attack. 

Before Buddy could say something, a large ball of dark blue fire hit him square in the face, knocking him straight out of the encounter. He saw the person responsible for the attack approach and his eye lights shrunk into pinpricks. It was a human!! But that should be impossible, right?!

Sans tried to make a run for it when the human spoke. "That nasty thing, torturing poor, helpless creatures for no good reason." She noticed him and raised her hands in a sign of peace "Do not be afraid dear one, I am Cosette, the caretaker and guardian of The Abandoned City. I pass through here every day to see if anyone has fallen down." She looked him over and smiled slightly "you are the first monster that has come here in a very long time. Please follow me, I shall guide you through the ruins."

Cosette ended the Encounter and walked to a large door with a strange symbol engraved onto it. "This way please." She disappeared and sans was alone again.

'ugh, this trip has been a bit more adventurous than I would've liked' sans moved to follow Cosette, hoping nothing crazy like the demonic flower happened again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If a monster saw Flowey I'm pretty sure they would think he was a monster, so I'm applying that here.


	3. The Abandoned City

As Cosette guided sans through the halls, sans decided to inspect his mysterious savior. She looked like what he expected of a human's appearance. She was quite tall and pale skinned, which complemented her deep blue eyes and dirty blonde hair and dressed in a deep purple dress with that strange symbol on the front in white. There were some oddities about her though.

Her hair had deep blue twinkling stars scattered throughout it, starting halfway down her ponytail and similar stars twinkled at the ends of her long sleeves and the hem of her dress. Not to mention all the old scripts he had read emphasized that except for a small few, humans were incapable of magic.

Cosette stopped in front another door with what looked like a bunch of buttons in the floor near it. She turned to sans and smiled widely. "Welcome to your new home , dearest. Allow me to explain how things work in the City." She moved to step on some of the buttons, then pulled a lever which opened the door.

She approached sans and spoke "The ruins is full of traps, ancient defense mechanisms meant to protect the inhabitants from intruders. If you're going to stay, you will have to learn to navigate and bypass them safely." Cosette moved onto the next room while sans lingered. He decided to inspect a plaque next to the door. He couldn't really read it, but understanding bloomed in the back of his skull.

***Only the fearless may proceed. Brave ones, foolish ones. Both walk not the middle road.**

'well, that was kinda weird' sans shook his skull and moved to catch up with Cosette.

The room was larger than the previous ones. Cosette pointed around the room " To move safely through this room, you must pull several switches to deactivate the traps. Do not worry, the ones in this room are marked to avoid young ones injuring themselves." Cosette moved to stand at the end of the room, quietly observing him. sans grinned to himself. This was basically a puzzle, and sans was very good at puzzles.

Sans moved to the first switch, which had a note he ignored written next to it, and pulled. He then moved to pull the next switch when he stopped and thought about what to do.

'well, I could...' Mind made up, sans dramatically looked between the switches and finally pulled the one on the right. Cosette, who was watching him closely, burst into surprised giggles. Trying to catch her breath she spoke, still giggling " No no no, the other switch dearest, the one with the note next to it."

Chuckling, sans pulled the right switch, Wich caused the large spikes blocking the exit to retract.

"Well done dearest! Follow me now." Cosette and sans moved to the next room, Wich had a female human tending to a dummy.  Noticing Cosette, she bowed slightly and left. 

Cosette turned to address sans directly "In Humanity's Kingdom Encounters happen often. From humans trying to attack to those simply trying to meeting a new face, you must be prepared to deal with this. When Encountering a human a FIGHT will start. When this occurs, try to chat with them until I come to resolve the conflict."She smiled and moved to the door to get a better view "Go on now, practice your conversation skills with the dummy."

Sans gave Cosette a slightly baffled look. She wanted him to....talk with a dummy? Seeing her expectant look, sans grumbled slightly but started the Encounter anyway. 'this is just ridiculous.'

 ***You encountered the Dummy.**  

sans blinked owlishly at the message floating in front of him. There was some sort of menu. He was apparently LV 1 and had 30 HP. The rest of the menu consisted of a few buttons.

**FIGHT**

**ACT**

**ITEM**

**MERCY**

 

Deciding to humor her,sans pushed ACT and selected talk. "hi there, nice day were having?"

***You talked to the Dummy.... It doesn't seem much for conversation.**

***Cosette seems pleased. You earned 0 XP and 0 gold.**

 

Cosette smiled widely and motioned for sans to follow "Come along now, the next room awaits."

"There is another trap active in this room...Do you think you can figure it out?" Before they reached the trap sans was suddenly pulled into an Encounter.

***Franny attacks you!**

 

The human girl with a frog hat appeared in front of him and sans couldn't help noticing the dark brown birthmarks covering her lower arms and legs. 'ok let's hope this works' sans waved to the human, getting her attention,and spoke "hi there sweetie, you look very nice today." Franny blinked at him and started to blush.

***Franny didn't understand you, but was flattered anyway.**

 

Before Franny could do anything Cosette entered the Encounter, giving her a Look which causes the little human to quickly walk away, ending the Encounter.

Sans saw a large area covered in giant spikes. Between the water and the wall, the only option was to figure out how to go through. he also noticed Cosette nervously eyeing the spikes.

"This is it, but I'm rather concerned. Here, take my hand." sans took Cosette's hand and allowed her to guide him through the spikes. When they reached the other side the woman let out a quick breath "I do not think you should attempt to deactivate the traps by yourself for the time being."

The two reached a long hallway when Cosette turned to sans. "I think it is best if you stay here for the time being, you are not familiar with the layout. I would hate it if you got hurt. Please,take this cellphone in case you need something and stay here, I will return shortly."

Sans watched as Cosette disappeared and gazed at the old flip phone she had handed him. Was she really expecting him to stay put? 'sorry lady, not happening.' sans moved to follow, and when he noticed she was gone, continued to move forward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Encounters differ between humans and monsters, which is why sans is confused by the system humans use. Also, I headcanon that sans' poor stats are related to the whole timelines thing, so as that hasn't happened to him here his HP and attacks are normal in this fic.
> 
> Also lemme tell you right now, I suck at puns and don't feel like shoehorning them in, so that's not happening.


	4. Exploration

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be following the stations of canon, but I'll try to be creative about it.

As soon as sans stepped outside of the room, his phone started ringing.

"Hello dear, it is Cosette, are you staying put? I really do not want you to get hurt, the traps could be dangerous. Goodbye now dear." She hung up and sans could feel his SOUL warm. Cosette reminded him a bit of a friend of his, constantly trying to make sure everyone was alright. 'stars, I miss everyone. i really need to find my way out before they worry too much.' 

Sans noticed a human with a similar hat to Franny approach him. He had no idea in what language he was talking, but the strange voice in the back of his skull translated for him.

***(Hello monster. If you don't mind, I would like to give you some advice for Encounters. In a FIGHT, if you ACT a certain way or FIGHT until you almost defeat them...They might not want to fight anymore. If a human does decide not to fight, please, use some Mercy monster.)**

with that the human wandered away, leaving sans to his confusion. 'ok, thanks mysterious voice in my head.' sans decided to inspect the door to his left first. There was a bowl of candy on a pedestal.

***It says 'take one please.' Will you take one?**

Shrugging internally, sans took a piece of candy. He eyed the bowl, wondering if he should take more.

*** How about not doing that?**

OK, the voice was apparently sassy. sans left the room and decided to inspect a pile of leaves.

***Playfully crinkling through the leaves fill you with determination. HP fully restored.**

***Would you like to save?**

"umm, ok?" 'why on earth would i need to save in the first place' sans wondered.

* **File saved.**

sans didn't have much time to questions the voice when another Encounter occurred.

x x x x x

Despite the constant attacks, sans was kinda enjoying himself. The puzzles, sorry  _traps,_ where honestly really fun (especially the ones with breaking floors) and the inhabitants where pretty friendly as long as you played nice. They even gave him some gold at the end of the Encounter, which was apparently a Thing down here. 

Cosette had called asking for his preference between apple and caramel. He preferred caramel, but she called back pretty much instantly to check if he had a problem with apple. She seemed to be up to something.

sans had also found another Save point near a mousehole and a table with some cheese. The mysterious voice seemed to enjoy narrating all the weird things happening around him and was quite knowledgeable about the underground. Their information was invaluable in making it through the Encounters without hurting anyone. 

Sans noticed a rather...odd human human pretending to be asleep in a pile of leaves. They looked different from the other humans, ghostly white with completely black eyes and slightly transparent.

"Snore, snoore. Snore, snoore. (Are they gone yet?)" The human peeked at sans through one eye before pretending to snore again.

***The ghost keeps saying 'snore' out loud. Move it with force?**

sans would rather leave them be, but the ghost was blocking the only way forward. sans moved to push the ghost out of the way when it initiated an Encounter.

***Here comes Nathan.**

 

 

sans watched the ghost floating in front of him, they looked about ready to cry at the drop of a hat. sans gave Nathan a patient smile, hoping he hadn't upset the sad looking ghost too much.

Nathan laughed softly but started to summon his bullets. They were tear shaped and seemed to be coming directly out of his eyes, different from the other humans who summoned theirs a distance from themselves.

Sans deftly dodged, narrowly avoided the attack.

***Nathan looks just a tiny better.**

 

 

sans looked over his options and decided to flirt. The mysterious voice seemed rather insisted on it.

Nathan gave sans a look "I'd just be a burden." A ghostly message stating 'Really not feeling it right now. So sorry.' flashed in front of him.

Sans rolled his eyes, hoping the voice noticed (and if the laughter in the back of his skull was anything to go by, they did) and decided to tell him a joke. "Hey Nathan, what's a ghost's favorite fruit? Booberries!

Nathan laughed a little louder at that but still continued his attack.

***Nathan seems to be feeling a bit better. He would like to show you something.**

 

 

"Let's see if this works" Nathan screwed his eyes shut and concentrated. His bullets started to move towards his head, turning into a small top hat. "I call it dashing Nathan... do you like it?" 

***Nathan anxiously awaits your response.**

 

 

"wow, that's impressive! great job Nathan!" sans was quite impressed. Forming bullets into a different shape was pretty advanced. Nathan blushed deeply and ended the Encounter. 

"I come to the City because it's so sparsely populated, the quiet's nice. But... today... I met someone really nice. Oh, I'm sorry, am I blocking the way? I'll move out of your way, goodbye." With that, Nathan floated through the wall and disappeared.

Seeing no reason to stay, sans continued forward. 

sans was surprised to find a group of young children in uniforms taking up a room. Most of them had the usual brown birthmarks most inhabitants had, but the girls manning the oven had stylized fire dancing around the entirety of their legs and the boy behind the counter, who looked older than the rest by a few years, had what looked like streams of water curling around his arms. He smiled widely at sans and motioned for him to move closer.

"Good day sir, welcome to the pup division of the Abandoned City's scouting troop, I'm watcher Daniel. It's so nice to have someone visit." Daniel smile fell a bit when he turned to watch the grumbling kids. "The kids here aren't allowed to do survival training yet but get miffed about having 'kitchen duty'."

"huh, do you guys sell some of this stuff here?" sans' question was rewarded with the children turning their attention to him.

Noticing, Daniel perked up. "Oh yes, it's mostly food, but we have some up for sale. Wolf pups, would you please gather what's for for sale for this fine gentleman?" sans watched with a smile as the kids scrambled to collect everything, chatting excitedly. 

x x x x x 

sans decided to take a breather, feeling a bit tired from the the near contact walking and fighting. Cosette had called, mentioning something about having to clean up and needing to be mindful of how much space he had left in his pockets.

He had had a lot of fun with the next floor breaking puzzle he encountered. He saw Nathan again (who had apparently forgotten he was a ghost and thought he was stuck) and a few cooks who insisted on healing his HP a bit. 

There was also a rather complex puzzle involving pulling switches hidden by pillars, but he managed.

 The human outside of his resting spot has mentioned seeing Cosette coming around here with a bunch of groceries, but hadn't asked, not wanting to bother her.

Sans moved to leave when something caught his eye. Moving closer, he saw it was a toy knife and he picked it up.

***You found the Toy Knife. Would you like to equipt it?**

sans inspected the Toy Knife and was shocked to say the least. It appeared to be an Weapon, an item a monster used when attacking. He could sense if he used it, he would gain 3ATK.

Deciding against it, sans continued forward. He found a large tree with no leaves on it, when suddenly Cosette appeared. 

"Well that is finally taken care of, goodness, that took longer than expected." She started to call when she noticed him. Jumping slightly, she approached him quickly. "Oh my, what on earth are you doing here? Did you go through the entire place by yourself? Come closer and let me take a look at you dear." Cosette's hands glowed green as she healed what little damage he had.

"Well, since you are already here, come along dearest, I have something to show you!" sans followed her and noticed a small house with a familiar twinkle in front of it.

***Seeing such a cute, tidy house in the middle of these ruins gives you determination. Would you like to save?**

'you know it pal' with not much else to do, sans followed Cosette into the house.

  ***File saved.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly had no idea what to do with the spider bake sale, but a scout troop theme fits what I need. Also, girl scouts cookies sound immensely fake to me, who lets their kids go out to sell shit unsupervised.


	5. Heartbreak

sans let Cosette guide him inside. It was a homely place, with various plants scattered about. He could smell  _something,_ but he couldn't figure out what exactly it was. Cosette seemed to notice this and smiled.

"Well, it looks like you already know I have a surprise. Ah well, I made an apple cake! I figured you deserved a treat after everything that has happened today. I can make you haggis another time."

Cosette motioned for him to follow her to the right. She pointed at the first door. "This will be your room from now on. My room is right next door if you need anything. Now, please go rest, you have had a very long day." With that she left, headed for what sans assumed was the living room.

'well, i AM kinda tired' sans entered the room and looked around. The room was rather simple, a desk, a closet and a bed with a chest at its foot. Immensely tired, sans got into the bed and fell asleep almost instantly.

x x x x x

Sans slowly woke up, memories of the day before slowly returning. He moved to get out of bed when he noticed a slice of apple cake on the desk. sans decided against eating it, simply pocketing the slice, and left the room. He started to inspect the hall, noticing a large mirror at the end.

***It's you!**

Chuckling lightly at the voice's antics, sans went to the other side of the house, looking for Cosette. He found her seated in a plush seat next to a hearth, a pair of thick glasses perched on her nose. She looked up from her book and smiled at him. "Ah you are awake! I was looking through my collection, if you are going to be staying here, you will have to learn more about your new home. It is _so nice_ to finally have company in this old place. Don't hesitate to ask about anything dear." 

sans paused at that, was she expecting him to stay? He appreciated her hospitality, but he had to keep moving if he was to get out as soon as possible.

Ignoring those implications for now, sans reached for what he assumed was a history book and flipped to a random page, the voice translating the ancient text.

***... with the scent of death still fresh in our memories, the newly formed Royal Family declared we would move forward, away from the constant reminder of our great losses. After many months of travel, hindered by the need to carve wider caverns, the First Capital was far behind us and a new one formed, named the True Capital. Young they may be, the Royal Family's ability to inspire was unfathomable.**

sans took a deep breath to compose himself. What little he had found out was seriously clashing with everything he was taught about humans. He couldn't see any of the ones he met take a monster's SOUL to gain power. Speaking of powers...

"hey Cosette, could you, tell me how humans got magic? i though most humans couldn't do magic?"

Cosette blinked at him, then sighed deeply. She plucked one of the books of the shelf and motioned for him to come closer.

"You must understand dear, humans were not meant to live underground. When did not fight back to avoid escalating the conflict, but we did not anticipate being locked up behind a magical barrier. Before we could attempt to do anything about it, a horrible sickness started to spread. We do not know if it was caused by the barrier or so many people being in such a tight space, but humanity's number dropped from around five billion to forty million in five years."

Sans' jaw dropped almost comically. He'd  _never_ heard of a death count so large!! 

Cosette apparently hadn't noticed his shock and continued her history lesson, idly looking for a specific page in her book. "As you can imagine, the stress of this time period weighted heavily on the survivors. The Determination we were once known for was gone and we physically grew weaker in our prison. In the last year of the sickness however, it was observed that humans where beginning to show magic potential, likely absorbed from the barrier as we weakened."

She flipped the book over, showing a page filled with sketches of humans with notes in between. 

"Technically humans are not able to use magic without a focus, such as a wand or a staff. The 'tattoos' humans are born with act like such focuses, coming in five alignments: earth, wind, water, fire and aether. Most of the humas here are earth aligned while I am aether aligned. I hope that answers your question."

With that she returned to her book, as if she hadn't dropped a massive bombshell on him.

sans shakily sat down at the dining table, attempting to control his breathing. Stars, this place was really starting to mess with him. He had to get out of here.

"Cosette, how do I get home?" She startled and gave him a confused look. "I do not understand, this   _is_ your home." She suddenly looked very guilty "I'm so sorry, I should not have told you that without any warning, please forgive me."

"Cosette, how do i get out of the city?"

She attempted to smile at him "Would you like to hear about this book I'm reading. It's about the Royal Circle, the-" sans cut her of "how do i get out, Cosette?"

Cosette abruptly got up and moved in the direction of the stairs. "I am sorry, but I appear to have some unfinished business to attend to." With that she disappeared into the darkness. sans had a bad feeling about what she was going to do and races after her.

x x x x x

Sans was confused as to why there was a tunnel underneath the house, but figured he had more important things to worry about. Cosette didn't stop walking as she started to speak.

"So, you wish to leave and return 'home' ?....At the end of this tunnel is the emergency gateway, one of the very few intact exits to the rest of the Kingdom....I am going to destroy it, ensuring none can leave ever again....Now  please, go back upstairs."

sans startled at that, but she wasn't done.

"Every monster that has fallen has met the same fate. I have seen it again and again and again." She sighed heavily, as if to compose herself before continuing.

"They come. They leave. They die. Don't you see? If you leave this place, they...  **Artemis...** They  **will** find you...... And they  **will kill** **you.** "

"I just want to protect you from this awful fate. So please, go to your room."

They stopped in front of a large door. 

"So, you wish to continue on? Hmph, sometimes I wonder why I try to stop your kind. There is only one option now."

She turned to him, her warm eyes as hard and cold as steel. "Prove yourself. Let me see that you can survive out there." With that, Cosette initiated an Encounter.

***Cosette blocks the way!**

 

 

sans cursed, he just wanted to get out! Not fight this sweet lady who obviously cared for him. He immediately spared her. "this is ridiculous Cosette! We don't have to fight!"

She ignored him and summoned a large wave of fireballs at him. He tried to dodge, but got still got hit. Wincing, he spared her again. He refused to hurt her to prove a point.

The fight dragged on, sans refusing to attack as Cosette wailed on him. She even started yelling at him, demanding he fight back or run. He refused to do either.

Just when he was starting to think it was hopeless, her attacks started to waver, not even coming close to hitting him anymore.

"Please, just...go to your room dear." He could practically  _feel_ the sheer emotional exhaustion that clung to her every word.

"I know I do not have much, but I swear I will take good care of you. I promise you can be happy here, if you stay." sans didn't know what to say to her, but thankfully (or not) he didn't have to say a thing.

Cosette stared at him for a very long time before dropping to her knees, her hair blocking her eyes from view. "No, you will never be happy here, trapped like the rest of us. The City is a dark and empty place, even for its inhabitants." She looked up at him with a wobbly smile "I'm sorry. I have lived a long life with many regrets. My failings and fears, my hopelessness and regrets, I will put them aside for you dearest, I will not stop you should you leave."

She slowly stood up " I will however request two things from you. First, I must ask you to never return once you leave." sans tried to hide his shocked expression, but she must have noticed anyway. " You must understand, I am many things, but first and foremost I am the guardian of this place. Should you bring attention to this place, I will protect these people, not you." sans wanted to disagree,but he understood. The humans living here could get in big trouble for not capturing him when they had the chance.

"Secondly" Cosette suddenly pulled him into a crushing hug. She didn't make a sound, but sans could feel teardrops falling on his skull.

"Please be careful, do not let them take your SOUL." With that she left, leaving sans alone.

Holding back tears of his own, sans started to walk. 'i never even got a chance to properly introduce myself.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so ends the Abandoned City arc, I had a ton of fun with Cosette.  
> And in case anyone's wondering why she's so blase about the sickness, well, it's a pretty big part of humanity's history. She hadn't really thought what an outsider would think of the event.


	6. Into the woods

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And a new chapter begins in sans' journey.

sans was still reeling from his Encounter with Cosette, so much so he almost didn't notice a certain flower in front of him.

Buddy gave him a bemused look before shaking his head and clapping his leaves together. "Well, well, well, don't ya feel _special._ I saw that sickening display back there. How cute, ya made it out without hurting anybody this time."

The adorable flower smiled sweetly at him "But, pray tell boneboy, what will you do when you meet a relentless murderer? You'll keep sparing, and they'll keep killing you, again and agAIN AND  **AGAIN.** Untill finally, ya have enough and decide  _do something about it_ or _give up entirely._ " The sweet smile didn't waver.

"Whaddya say  _dearest,_ how 'bout giving me back control?" The flower had the audacity to make puppy dog eyes at him.

"i don't think so you demonic weed." sans activated his magic, ready to attack if needed.

Buddy simply giggled before that terrifying grin returned "ya just don't get it do ya? In this world it's kill or be killed! I am the rightful ruler to this world, and I'm not gonna let you or anyone else get in my way. Oh yes, this is turning out ta be _plenty interesting_." With a bone chilling cackle, the demonic flower winked at him before disappearing.

sans shuddered. If he had to deal with that two-faced flower ever again it would be much too soon.

Collecting himself, he moved forward. 

x x x x x 

sans wasn't sure what he expected the rest of this place to look like, but he never imagined this. A dense snow covered forest greeted him as he look around. It was deathly quite.

'Well, nothing to do except move forward.' Putting the demonic weed in the back of his thoughts, sans trudged forward. He saw what appeared to be a bridge with a gate in the distance.

***CRACK***

sans would've jumped out of his skin if he had any. Spinning around wildly he noticed the source of the sound. Creeping forward, sans inspected the now broken branch. It was pretty thick, so snapping it must've taken a lot of strength.

Warily, sans moved forward, keeping a close eye socket on his surroundings.

He had just stepped on the bridge when he felt the unmistakable pull of gravity magic hold him down.

He heard  _something_ approach with slow deliberate steps until it was right behind him.

"H e l l o  m o n s t e r. What's wrong, don't know how to say hi? Come now, turn around, and s h a k e  m y  h a n d." Not wanting to piss of a potential enemy, sans turned around and reached out for them.

The next moment was filled with the sound of an emptying whoopee cushion.

Sans felt a bead of sweat roll down his skull. Maybe he shouldn't have done that to them.

"heh heh...the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick. it NEVER gets old."

The human standing across from him (a darkly tanned female with light blonde hair with streaks of icy blue that matched her eyes) gave him the blankest, most deadpan looked he had ever seen in his entire life.

Briefly looking upwards as if to ask any gods willing to listen to give her strength, her eyes turned back to sans as she started to speak.

"Classy monster, very classy. Well, my name is Casey. Casey Bonita. I'm  _technically_ supposed to be on the lookout for monster, but honestly" she pulled down her thin hoody to idly scratch the back of her head, the thin but long light green lines around her neck standing out again her skin "I'm not really feeling the whole "capture all monsters" thing."

A small, barely there smile tugged at her lip "My brother Benjamin however, is a completely different story. He's pretty much the biggest monster hunting fanatic out there." She glanced behind him, as if she had heard something. "Huh, I think that might be him." 

Her face once again a blank mask, she lightly pushed sans. "I don't really wanna explain you right now, so come along. Don't worry, my bro made the bars to wide to stop anyone." She more or less manhandled him into a clearing before stopping. "You can hide behind my sentry station, or not. You can do whatevs."

Sans did not want to get found by someone out to capture him and quickly dove behind the counter, when he heard someone approach.

"Hi Benny, what brings you to my neck of the woods?" Curiosity getting the better of him, sans peeked around the edge of the counter to see what was going on.

"Don't You Hi Benny Me Sister! It's Been Weeks And You Still Haven't Made Those Traps Like I Asked You! Honestly, I Give You ONE Responsibility And You Still Managed To Mess Up! What Am I Going To Do With You Casey!?" The human talking was short, a child most likely. His skin tone matched Casey's exactly, right down to the light green stripes, but his eyes and hair where a deep orange. He was also dressed in some armor, mainly armored boots and gauntlets.

"Well, I was looking at my station, wanna join?" She gestured in sans direction and his SOUL froze. She was going to sell him out! This though left sans when he saw that Benjamin was simply getting more frustrated. It kinda reminded him of his own brother, which brought with it a fresh wave of guilt. Last he had seen Papyrus they'd had their biggest fight ever. 

"I Don't Have Time For Your Games Sister! What If A Monster Shows Up? It Has To Be Me. It Will Be Me! I Will Be The One To Capture A Monster! And Then, They'll HAVE To Accept Me Into The Royal Guard!"

Casey smiled at her brother "I really think my station will help Benny, won't you have a look?"

"Ugh!! No Sister, Your Sentry Station Will Not Aide My Glorious Rise! You Could At Least Help Out But Nooo, You Just Sit Around All Day! You Promised To Get Better Casey, But I Feel Like You're Slipping Back, It Worries Me..." Casey flinched back as if she was struck, a ... sans wanted to call the expression she was wearing a smile, but it looked more like a show of teeth. Her face fell back into a blank mask when she started to speak.

"Hey, hey Benny. What do snowmen eat for lunch?"

Benjamin made a face "Sister Please, You Tell Me That SAME Joke Everytime I Visit You!"

Casey wasn't the least bit deterred by his pleading. "Icebergers, Benny, icebergers."

Benjamin let out what could only be described as a pterodactyl screech. "UGH Why Do You This To Me!!!"

The tiny smile was back "C'mon Benny, you're smiling." She sang song.

"Don't Remind Me! Why Must Someone Do So Much For Some Simple Recognition Around here?"

Casey went up to him and pulled him into a hug " Don't worry Benjamin, I'm sure he'll finally get over it soon, your gonna be a great Royal Guard." Benjamin practically melted into the embrace.

He stopped the hug, face bright red, before bounding of in the direction he came from "I'm Of To Recalibrate My Traps Sister!"

Laughing softly, Casey called out "OK the coast's clear. You can come out, sorry you had to see that." Slowly, sans made his way to her, slightly glaring at her. Casey's only reaction was to raise an eyebrow. sans was about to leave when Casey called out to him.

"Hey monster, I was wondering, my brother's been really down lately. I was wondering, would you be willing to show up in front of him? It'll probably make his week to see an actual monster. Don't worry, he's harmless, I swear." Before sans could answer she walked of in the opposite Benjamin went "thanks man, I owe you one." 

Confused, sans went on further, wondering what was waiting for him.

x x x x x

After the crazy introduction by Casey, sans was almost glad to go back to fighting humans. He met a pretty nice kid called Drake who wanted to be a comedian ( and sans was being honest when he said the kid had amazing potential.) He wasn't surprised when he noticed the siblings chatting not to far away.

 ...And I Turn To Atlas, Looking For Escape From The Slobber And -" Benjamin jumped a little when he saw him before doing a double take. He grabbed his sister by the shoulder to haul her down to his level before he started whispering (though sans could still here everything.) 

"Sister, Is That, Is that A  monster?!" Casey squinted at him, her attention firmly on something behind him. "Actually, I think it's just a rock. You can never really tell with monsters."

Sans blinked and looked behind himself. Sure enough, there was a rock on the road.

Benjamin looked absolutely heartbroken "Oh...." His sister nudged him pointing directly at sans. "Hey, I think the skeleton in front of the rock is a monster." He perked up at that "R-really Casey?" She nodded.

"I Did It, I Finally Did It!!! Oh Atlas Is Going To Be So Proud Of Me!" Benjamin took a deep breath to compose himself before turning to sans, a wide happy grin plastered over his face.

"Aha! You Thought To Sneak Past Me Didn't You Monster? Well, Unluckily For You, You're Up Against The Amazing Benjamin! I Will Capture You And Deliver You To The Head Of The Royal Guard, Who Will..." Benjamin paused at that a deeply confused look on his face "Actually, I Have No Idea...AHEM, You May Try To Challenge Me, But Be Warned, I Shall Be Your Most Formidable Opponent. Move Forward If You Dare!" And with a dramatic turn he was gone.

sans could feel the ache in his soul deepening. It was like being with Papyrus, but not. 

Casey had watched the whole exchange quietly, making small noises in the back of her throat. Though her blank face said otherwise, he could feel approval radiate from her. With a nod she went of in the opposite direction again, leaving sans alone again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Presenting the Bonita sibs. Their immensely close, but Casey enjoyes messing with Benjamin a lot.


	7. Winter games

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IIII LIIIIIVE! Christ this took so much longer than anticipated, I tripped and fell straight into batim au hell and couldn't concentrate on this thing. In other news, cute Dogs and Sibs.

sans was wondering when he'd see the siblings again when he came across another sentry station. A tall, lanky woman with dark shades was seated, her boots resting on the counter. A black and tan dog was lying down next to her feet. The dog suddenly stood up and started to growl at him, getting the woman's attention.

"What is it Sunny, do you see something?" Her head spun left and right, trying to find something. "If someone's there you better show yourself! I may be blind, but I can hear anything that moves, and if you try to mess with me it's not going to end well for you!" With that, dog and master leapt onto the road, right in front of sans.

***Sonja and Sunny block the way!**

 

 

sans almost let out a curse. Her twin sabres were made completely out of blue magic, meaning if he so much as twitched when it connected he'd take massive damage. He steeled himself when she swung at him and he needed every bit of concentration he had to keep from flinching at the blow. 

Sans was unsure how to proceed. If her hearing was as good as she claimed (and considering she was stationed at an obviously busy road, it most likely was), she'd definitely hear him trying to sneak past, and the dog was somehow guiding her, causing her hits to land every time. sans was confused when the voice suddenly spoke up.

***You can't fight her head on. Force her to retreat.**

Thanks mysterious voice, and _how_  exactly was he going to do that?

***Pet the dog. Trust me, it'll work.**

He wasn't really sure about that, but dog monsters could be effectively distracted with pets, so the idea had  _some_ merit. When it was his turn sans quickly darted forward and pet Sunny behind the ears.

Sunny, to put it lightly, freaked out. His tail waved wildly and when he noticed sans' retreat, he ran up to his master, demanding pets. Sonja flinched, but relaxed when she realised what was jumping against her legs. "Sunny, not know, we're dealing with something remember?"

Sunny was having none of that and started whining. Sonja signed, but bent down picked him up and started peppering his head with kisses. "Fine, you win boy, just let me get your treats ok?" With that the Encounter ended and the pair went back into the station.

 sans noticed Casey loitering not to far from where he was. Her only reaction was to blink at him "Huh, I  _was_ going to explain how blue attacks work, but you seem to have figured it out already. Well that makes my chore easier, Benny wanted you to know he has a  **special attack,** so yeah, I'm done here."

With that she wandered off. sans noticed a sign with something on it in the middle of an iced over part of the road and decided to investigate. Getting there was easy (he  _did_ grow up in Snowdin after all). Apparently it was a map of the area. Most of the area was snow covered woods, but there was a town called Galeglade to the east. Wondering how  _that_ name was chosen, sans came across the siblings again, standing on the other side of a clearing. Benjamin noticed him first and grinned.

 "Aha, So You've Decided To Take Your Chances Against Me, The Amazing Benjamin? Ha Ha ha, I Won't Go Easy On You! Me And My Sister Have Designed Most Of The Traps That Protect This Area, And This One Will Be The First Of Many Challenges!" He gestured grandly to the area between them.

"This Is An Electricity Maze, You Must Navigate Through Without Hitting The Walls If You Don't Wish To Be Electrocuted." 

"You could say" Benjamin froze and turned to his sister, wildly shaking his head " this trap is quite  _shocking,_ right Benny?" 

sans didn't know what was more ridiculous, Benjamin's overreaction or Casey's deadpan look as she delivered the bad joke. Benjamin turned back to him, desperately trying to stop smiling.

"Just Ignore Her, You May Now Proceed." sans hadn't even made a step before he felt gravity magic holding him in place. Casey tapped her brother on the shoulder to get his attention "Benny you haven't given him the orb yet, it's still with you."

"Oh! Thank You Sister, THAT Would've Been Embarrassing!" He moved to hand sans the orb, unwittingly making a clear path. sans simply followed the newly formed path passed to the other side.

Benjamin's eyes light up before he tried to appear aloof. He scoffed at sans "Oh That One Was Easy, I Was Just uhm, Warming You Up! It Wouldn't Be Fair Not To Give You A Chance To Actually Try. I Will Be At The Next Trap!" He moved so quickly he practically teleported out and Casey simply stood there, watching her brother run off. "He's recently decided to put together his own armour in preparation of being a Royal Guard, but he's being really picky. He's been looking for the perfect chest piece for weeks now."

x x x x x 

 sans went by a lady selling ice cream and completed a golfing game (and saw Casey selling what she called gummy candy to a bunch of teens) before he came across the next 'trap'.

"Welcome Monster! My Sister Has Designed This Particular Trap, And I Assure You That You Will Be Stumped And Forced To Give Up!"sans only saw a piece of paper lying in the middle of the clearing. It was covered in wrinkles, as if it was balled up and someone had tried to smooth it out.

 He approached warily, unsure if there was anything he was missing. The paper turned out to be a rather advanced word search with a pencil lying in the snow next to it. Unhindered by the cold sans sat down and started to solve the game, half listening to the two argue about what constituted a 'good trap'.

"See, he's halfway done already. Told you I should've taken the world fill-in."

"And If You HAD Taken The Fill-in He'd Be Done Right Now. Honestly Sister, Why Must You Insist Word Searches Are Inferior? I Can Solve Those Fill-ins When I'm Half Asleep!"

"And I can solve a word search when I'm  _actually_ asleep."

That Happened ONE Time And You Were Sleepwalking, It Doesn't Count!"

"not to interrupt, but i'm done."

"Ah, Monster! Solve This Dispute. Which Is harder, Word Search Or Fill-ins?" sans pondered on that for a bit before deciding. " personally, i find fill-ins harder." Benjamin made an utterly betrayed expression before stomping of "Ugh! I'm Leaving You Two Weirdos To Your Poor Choices, Goodbye!"

Sans noticed the tiny smile had returned "Benny can't stand word searches, they make his head spin and eyes hurt."

"say Casey, do you happen to know why the town is called Galeglade? i mean" he gestured to all the snow.

She quirked an eyebrow at him "Well, this place has strong wind aligned magic, which is why most of us live here. Apparently this place was just a forest when humans first settled, and the combined magic caused the temperature to drop. Then it just kinda, started snowing. I've tried to petition a new name, but no such luck yet. I'm gonna pitch Iceburg next week."

x x x x x

Sans came across another Save point near a table. There was a note and some covered dishes on top.

' _Dear monster, we've been at this for a while and it's only polite to offer you some food. I hope you don't mind cold macoroni.'_   - _signed- The Amazing Benjamin._

Feeling rather hungry, sans reached for one of the plates. He was halfway through when a trio of humans approached. All of them where dressed in robes with elaborate Celtic circles in the center of their chests and had wooden staffs covered in magic crystals slung across their backs. sans was about to make a run for it when the only girl (a small, chubby thing with an infectious smile) squealed and pulled the boys with her towards the table "Look babes, Benny left a treat!" 

sans watched as the trio chattered, one of the boys was lightly scolding the girl for some stunt she pulled during practice, while the other one was was poking fun at the both of them in between bites.

Sometimes sans couldn't believe the people down here where actually humans. Everything he was taught about them painted them as cold murderers who would hurt anyone who got in between them and getting more power.

He learned a bit about them. They were all dating, had younger siblings and were members of the Royal Circle, the kingdom's mage guild.

When they left he saved at the voice's insistence.

***Knowing the mouse will one day gather the courage to ask for some macaroni fills you with determination. HP fully restored.**

'sure it does pal' sans honestly found the voice quite endearing. Done with his macaroni, he moved onwards.

x x x x x

 sans didn't know what exactly he expected from 'dog marriage', but this wasn't it. A human was wandering in the area with two large dogs wearing matching collars. When she noticed him she squinted.

"You're not from around here. IDENTIFY YOURSELF STRANGER!" With that she backed up and the dogs moved forward.

***Doris has sent Doug And Vanessa after you!**

 

 

The dogs pounced, somehow sending normal and blue heart shaped bullets towards him. sans was rather impressed. The woman had somehow figured out how to channel her own magic through her dogs, making the fight much more complicated.

'say pal, if you've got any advice on how to deal with this I'm all ears'

 ***** **Well, Doris seems more concerned about an unknown person being in the area, I don't think she's realized that your a monster. If you can get the dogs to calm down she may let you pass.**

'ok, i can do that. thanks pal.' sans quickly moved forward and pet both dogs, who abandoned their attack to lick his face. Doris seemed pleased as she let out a sharp whistle, calling the dogs to her.

"Looks like you're clear. Sorry about that, but you can never be too careful. Here's some gold for the trouble. And you two were _amazing_. Who's the cutest pair of wolf dogs in the entire kingdom? You are!!!" 

sans left as the woman's praise continued.

x x x x x

sans noticed Benjamin before the young human noticed him "Oh, Hello Monster! Did You Eat Some Of The Macaroni I Left You?" He had a rather worried expression.

"yeah i did." Benjamin let out a deep sigh of relief at that. "Thank Goodness. You Remind Me Alot Of My Sister, And If There's One Thing I know About Her It's That She'd Try To Live Of Gummy Worms And Juice If I Didn't Stop Her." Benjamin suddenly paled a bit before fidgeting.

"Uhm, I'm Sorry. I Was Messing Around With The Next Trap But Forgot How Fast Things Freeze Up. I-I...I don't know how to bypass it..."

sans panicked a bit. Benjamin sounded _awfull_ , like this small mistake was proof that everything he did was absolutely worthless. He had no idea how but he needed to something to cheer him up.

"heh, don't sweat it kid, i've got this" The puzzle wasn't that hard to him, but the large, happy smile on Benjamin's face made him feel as if he'd accomplished something amazing.

"Oh Wow, That Was Amazing! You're so talented! I'll See You At The Next Trap!" Still smiling, he ran of with a bounce in his step. sans noticed Casey, who was smiling softly at him.

"Thanks for the assist dude, Benny doesn't really listen to me when he's in a slump. Say I'm required to be nice about it 'cause we're siblings. See ya."

x x x x x

sans saw a large clearing covered in tiles with the siblings on the other side. Benjamin perked up when he noticed him.

"Oh Hello Monster! You're Going To Love This One. This Is A tile trap Invented By Dr. Alphonse. Every tile has a different function. What You Must Also Known Is That This Trap Is Completely Random! No One Could Tell You How To Get Past!" Benjamin pulled out a piece of paper and stared at it.

"Sister, What Under The Mountain Is Written On This Thing?!" Casey leaned over and her eyes widened ever so slightly as she started muttering in a foreign language.

"Honestly Benny, I don't think this is an actual language. That or doc wrote this in one of his science fits and forgot most people don't understand that technical jargon." She took the piece of paper and walked over to sans. "Here dude, good luck."

sans looked over the paper handed to him and could only identify a bunch of scribbles. Meanwhile Benjamin had activated the thing, the squares lighting up in a kaleidoscope of colors before settling on a pink 'path' with some red in between. Benjamin simply stared at the tiles before slowly sinking down to his knees and faceplanting into the snow.

Casey bent down to gently pet her brother on the head. "If I remember correctly pink is safe, so you can keep going. See ya dude."

Chuckling at the siblings antics, sans moved onwards.

x x x x x

 sans was inspected every snowpoff when he saw a tiny human, close to Benjamin in size, clad in armor and seated in a snowpoff. She stared at him quizzically.

"hey kid, what are you doing all by your lonesome?" He could practically see the wheels in her head turn as a smirk started to spread across her face. Suddenly, the snow underneath her shuddered and a dog the size of a mountain rose, the small girl seated on a saddle on the behemoth's back.

"You look strong! Let's tussle! Ready, GO!" With that she started the Encounter.

***It's Gemini and his mistress Gretchen.**

 

 

Gretchen immediately sent a large spear at him, flickering from white to blue. sans deftly dodged but still got hit. She laughed, bright and happy.

"Aha! You can take a hit! This is going to be GREAT!" Without pause she sent another spear his way, this one completely white. He managed to not get hit and sent a small wall of bones, which only seemed to encourage her.

This went on for some time, Gretchen slowly wearing down. sans was at 9 HP suddenly Gemini stilled, turning to look at his mistress who's was attempting to form another spear. She only managed a formeless spark before sighing and ending the Encounter.

huf huf "Well, I'm beat. If I keep fighting I'll hurt myself." She turned to him and smiled widely.

"Thanks for the fight sir, the rest of the guard tends to go easy on me cause I'm young. I haven't had a fight that good in months!" She reached for on the pouches attached to her mount's saddle, pulling out a rather large bag about the size of his fist. She gently tossed it at him "Here you go sir. Sorry for springing that on you without warning."

With that she flopped down and fell asleep, Gemini moving away. 

x x x x x 

Sans was only a little wary when he noticed the siblings on the other side of the bridge. They seemed like a nice pair and after going through all those traps and watching them banter and mess with each other he considered them tentative friends.

"Hello Monster! This Will Be Your Final Challenge, The Bridge!!!" A large collection of various weapons attached to mechanical arms (one was holding a calico cat for some reason) appeared from underneath the Bridge, poised to strike. "When I Push This Button, The Entire Thing Will Active, So Prepare Yourself For Your Greatest Challenge Yet!!!" sans eyed the contraption, before leveling a stare at Casey.

 "hey, isn't it dangerous to let a kid play around with this thing?" To his surprise both Casey and Benjamin gave him a blank stare.

"How rude! I'll Have You Know I Went Through All The Mandatory Teachings And Training, And Have Spent Five Years As An Apprentice In Waterway And Another Five As The Secondary Trapper In The True Capital, Learning The Craft! Why, At 85 I'm currently The Oldest Master Trapper In The Kingdom!" sans was floored, Benjamin was older than him?!

Casey's eyes slowly moved over him before she looked him straight in the eyes "You thought he was a child? I thought monsters didn't age normally as well."

Benjamin blinked at that before looking at sans like he hadn't seen him before "How Strange...But Don't Think I'm Letting That Insult To My Skill Stand!" He pushed something on his remote and the trap disappeared. He pivoted on his spot before speaking "Monster, I Challenge You To A Fight! Prepare Yourself And Meet Me At The Edge Of Town." With that he marched of.

Casey somehow managed to emote disappointment without changing her blank expression "Wow, insulting the region's Master Trapper. I'd call it impressive but that's a filthy lie. As the Secondary Trapper of the area, I'm going to advise you to prepare yourself, he's not going to let this go dude." Done speaking, she went of after her brother.

 sans followed them, coming across a large sign that said "Welcome to Galeglade!" He'd made it to town.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More about the underground (trapping is a very intensive study). There's more to the Bonita sibs than meets the eye and both have their share of issues. Also, that wasn't a pun, it was situational humor (sweats nervously)


	8. Galeglade

Galeglade was a homely looking place. Snow covered buildings with large evergreen pine trees scattered between them, children playing and laughing, adults happily chatting with friends or smiling at the antics of the little rascals. sans noticed a small girl with dark hair and eyes seated on what looked a chair attached to a sled, nervously watching he direction he came from for something. He'd already gotten used to the marks humans had, hers being streams of water mainly covering her left side, but she seemed to be _missing both of her legs_.

"Hey mister, have you seen my brother while you were in the woods? He looks like me except his eyes slant downwards, not upwards." He remembered one of the three mages he'd met matched that description.

"was he practicing magic with two others?" Her face lit up as she smiled widely.

"Yup! That's my brother and his datemates! Did he say he was coming?"

"uhh, he didn't say, but i think they went to practice some more." Her face fell as she sighed deeply.

"He was supposed to come pick me up.... Hey mister, do you mind bringing me home? He was supposed to do it, but it looks like he's still busy with training. And can you _please_ not tell my parents. They don't like him being in the Royal Circle and keep looking for an excuse to make him stop."

sans pondered on that. He really needed to get moving before this Artemis character realized he was here and started to hunt him down, but the thought of leaving her here was vehemently rejected.

"ok kid, i'll help you out." The smile return almost a hundredfold.

"Thank you thank you thank you thank you!! I'm Moki, my family lives in the apartment building next the Snow Day Inn. It's not that far from here."

Sans listened to her rambling as he pulled her sled. She talked about anything, how she was born without legs, how her brother was wrong about the striped clothes children wore being stupid, the giant snowdog some stranger had made a few years ago, and how she was the most adept at healing magic in her entire age group.

They passed a few interesting places, Titos' Bar and Grill and the Libarry standing out, when they made it to the Snow Day Inn.

"Thanks for the assist mister!" A short woman came running out, panicking slightly before she calmed down when she saw Moki.

"There you are, your parents have been worrying for the last two hours. Come inside."

"Yes auntie." The woman smiled, and with little trouble, she lifted the small girl up and disappeared into the door.

***I think we passed a general store on the way here. You should check it out, the fight with Gretchen took a lot of your healing items.**

x x x x x

 The store owner was a nice lady who seemed quite happy to see a new face. "You must be from the Abandoned City, how nice! Few of its inhabitants ever leave, it's mostly the more powerful magic users seeking better teaching that bother trying to get out."

She smiled at him before handing him a bag. "Consider it a welcome gift. I've got the best cinnamon buns in the entire Kingdom!"

sans browsed the selection as he spoke "soo, can you tell me a bit about the Bonita siblings?" The woman's smile turned into a grin when he spoke the surname.

"So you've already met the twins? They're a riot aren't they, never a dull moment when those two knuckleheads are around. No one really knows where they came from, they've been living here for a  _long time_. They're actually older than a lot of the folks living here. You can never tell with those Determined!Souls."

She gave him a look when she noticed his puzzled expression. "You should go to the libarry, and yes, that's what the owner actually named it. You should familiarize yourself with what the rest of the Kingdom's like."

 x x x x x

The library was, interesting. The first thing he noticed was the owner, a tall lady that practically dragged your eyes to her. Dressed in a torn leather jacket that showed a lot of skin, a truly insane amount of piercings, a partially shaved haircut dyed a kaleidoscope of colors and dark makeup standing out against pale skin and eyes. She was also completely covered in tattoos, clusters of colorful flowers and swirling words between the natural brown marks on her lower arms and large snakes peaking out from under her shirt.

 "Hiya Hun, what can I do for you?" She grinned wildly at him.

"ok, first off, why's this place called a libarry? did you misspell it?" She raised a pierced eyebrow and reached under her desk, pulling out a six pack of beer. "I couldn't decide if I wanted to keep the family bar or open my own library. Turns out, you can do both if you're upfront about your intentions. I've got all my papers and can serve alcohol to anyone of age."

"I'm going to go out on a limb and guess Lola the shopkeep sent you? We haven't had a visitor from the City in, I'll be generous and say sixty years. Last I checked those books you need are on the last shelf. Have fun hun. Oh, and please be quiet, I've got people working on projects that would like to be undisturbed."

 x x x x x

Even with the help of the voice, sans could not make head or tails of the dense history books. He had been able to puzzle out some bits and pieces though.

The Kingdom has four seats of power: one each for the leaders of the Royal Circle, the Royal Guard and the Royal Laboratory and the last one for the reigning ruler.

The ruling family was the Speros.

There was a national celebration known as "the day of mourning".

It was possible to earn a "title of Humanity" which was the highest honor to receive.

***Oh! Here's something!... Determined!Souls are a rare condition. These few humans are born with the normal amount of Determination, which now fights for dominance against magic, often killing the afflicted. An even smaller few miraculously survive this intense battle, their magic and Determination working together instead of attempting to destroy each other. They are significantly more powerful than normal humans and similarly to True mages, they age in strange ways.**

'well isn't that interesting.' While sans wanted to find out more about this strange land, he knew he had things to do and reluctantly left the libarry.

x x x x x

Titos' Bar and Grill was a neat place in sans' humble opinion. It had that hole in the wall feel that he personally liked, high-class places always irking him with their haughty air of supposed superiority. Most of the patrons seemed to be the various guards he'd encountered alongside their dogs. The group was happily chatting and playing card games, one man in particular seemed to be trying to coax his dog into playing with the others.

One of the patrons spoke. "That entire group is part of the Royal Guard, currently under the leadership of Captain Atlas. He's insanely strong, takes nothing from no one and is recognized as "Humanity's Warrior". It's no surprise kids want to emulate him." sans suddenly felt a little uneasy and slowly looked around.

 The bartender was a tall and well built man, dark from his skin to his hair to his shades. He was dressed causally yet professional, black slacks paired with a simple white button up shirt. sans could  _feel_ the man's gaze on him. After a few seconds he turned around with a pleased look, returning to his work.

***Let's keep going. You still have a challenge to go through.**

 Knowing the voice was right, sans moved to find the siblings. 'hopefully i can talk my way out of this mess i've gotten myself into.'

 x x x x x 

sans noticed Casey leaning against the wall of a house on the edge of town. She straightened when she noticed him. "Hello. Due to your gross offence, Benjamin Bonita has challenged you to duel. It's a rather serious offence, so I will be judging. The fight continues until one of you gives up or you both agree to stop. Now run along, your opponent's waiting." With little fanfare she walked off, leaving sans alone.

'well, guess i've got to get going.'

sans moved forward slowly, squinting in the thick fog. He could just barely make out a small figure watching him approach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The humans in my verse have long accepted that freedom is more or less a pipedream, as such they're pretty fine with the situation.
> 
> I should probably get a program to write in instead of using the new work thing, but I can't be bothered with trying to finagle how to do that. In other news, water is wet.


	9. Featherfluff

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still in batim au hell, though as August approaches I'm feeling the DuckTales 2017 hype steadily increase.

Through the mist he could barely make out Benjamin's silhouette. He nodded at Casey, who was standing a few feet back, once and started to speak.

"Hello Monster. I Am Glad To See You Here, Most Would Be Attempting To Avoid This Confrontation To Save Face. Allow Me To Enlighten You On The Situation. You Comment At The Bridge Was Quite Frankly Among The Most Insulting Things You Could Have Told A Person. Akin To Telling Someone Their Continued Existence Brings Shame To Their Family."

Benjamin turned to face him "While I Do Understand That It's A Misunderstanding, That Does Not Excuse It.  It Would Be Worse Not To Deal With This Properly."

He paused for a moment to take his green bandana off and tied it to keep his long bangs out of his eyes.

"I Trust You Have Prepare Yourself? I Will Not Allow This Insult To Stand. I, The Amazing Benjamin, Will Rectify This And Deliver You To The Capital Myself!"

***Benjamin blocks the way!**

 

sans immediately spared him, causing Benjamin to do a double take. 

"W-what? Y-your Not Even Going To TRY Fighting Back?! Don't Think I'll Go Easy On You Just Because Your Being Ridiculous!" He summoned a few large white feathers, none of them getting close to sans' position on the field.

"look, i'm sorry about what I said, but i'm not gonna fight you. can't we work through this without the fighting somehow?" Benjamin's eyes widened comically at that.

"Really? Really?! Most People Would Be Taking This Time To Kill Each Other, But You Want To Talk Things Through?! That's, That's Amazing! Even Atlas Wou-" he stopped talking abruptly and shook his head.

"Stop That Benjamin, You're In A Duel And Trying To Capture Him! This Isn't The Time To Be Making Friends, Get it together you  _useless waste of space._ " He steeled his expression and held out a hand glowing blue. Suddenly, sans was pulled down lower in the field, right in the path of Benjamin's attack. He just barely managed to get out of the way.

"That's My Special Attack. It Makes You Blue! Good Luck Dodging now!" He immediately sent a large flurry of feathers sans' way, some white and some blue.

Sans let out a low curse. He  _would_ like to do the same, but his magic was almost completely pinned under Benjamin's magic (something that was actually happening often, but he only noticed now). As it was he could just barely make some bones to block the feathers he couldn't dodge.

The battle continued, Benjamin rambling on about how great he would be in the Royal Guard between attacks. That, and the sudden realization that he wouldn't be able to fight back properly was seriously throwing him off.

***sans quick! You have to heal, you're almost at 5 HP!**

He didn't get a chance to do anything before a feather smashed his SOUL into a dozen pieces.

x x x x x 

sans woke up  having no idea where he was. It was empty, completely pitch black in all directions and seemed to go on forever. Where the heck was he?

***Welcome to the Void _,_ you're dead.**

"wait, is that you voice? what do you mean i'm dead?!" He looked around frantically, looking for the source of the sound. All he noticed was a soft red glow over his sternum.

***It means that you're dead. That last attack shattered your SOUL.**

The fight with Benjamin. He didn't see the blue attack coming and was too busy panicking over realizing he couldn't use his magic effectively during human Encounters to adequately pay attention to it. He died. He  _died_. He was stuck on that last thought, it constantly repeating itself. The red glow pulses abruptly at that.

***sans stop! You need to calm down, please. You're _fine_. I swear everything's going to be fine.**

sans was suddenly _very furious._  This... thing, it wanted him to _calm down_?! "are you kidding me, how do you know?! did you know this this was going to happen?! what the fuck is going on!"

***I DON'T KNOW!**

sans quickly shut his mouth when the voice screamed. He could faintly make out a red glitchy humanoid, crouching on the floor in front of him. It somehow managed look distressed.

***I'm sorry I don't know how to help you! I've never dealt with this before! This never happened with the others...**

"wait, others? can you please explain what you're going on about?! this is starting to get more confusing by the minute." The red creature sat down (at least it looked like it did) and let out a frustrated sigh.

***Yes, others. So much is different. You've woken me up, but not like it usually goes.**

"woken you up? how?" The creature looked up at that.

***Do you remember the flowers you woke up on? I was buried there, a very, very long time ago. I never moved on, sleeping for years and years. Then something woke me up. It was a monster. I couldn't speak to them and they could only hear me subconsciously, but I did my best to guide them through the Kingdom. And when they died, I went to sleep again. At least, until the next one.**

Sans was very confused, desperately trying to wrap his head around what he'd learned. "all of this sounds like a load of bull. what happens now? you said this was different."

***Very. Usually I can barely make myself heard. None of the other monsters could even see the Save Points. I'm confident you can Load.**

"load? like a game? what the heck does that have to do with anything?" The red creature stood up and slowly circled him, inspecting him closely.

***You could compare it to how it works in a game, yes. Someone called [redacted] taught me a long time ago, when I was "younger", just incase. They're like me. If the necessary requirements are met, the two of us can twist the world. Before you came along, Buddy had that power.**

"wait a second, that crazy flower had this ability?! do I even want to know what that thing did with it?"

***I don't think you want to know the answer to that. Besides, it's not worth the trouble, you won't remember much, if any, of what happens here. The Void is a place of the forgotten. You just have the option to get out. Would you like to go to your last Save?**

"what happens if i stay here?" They simply shrugged.Seeing no other options, sans nodded.

x x x x x 

_Please, don't give up! You must stay determined!_

x x x x x

Sans didn't know why he had a bad feeling about the upcoming fight, but he was positive he could work his way through it with minimal trouble.

***Don't forget that your magic doesn't really work well during these Encounters.**

'huh, haven't really thought about that much. thanks for the heads up.' With that he slowly approached the thick mist. 

The fight was going pretty good. He hadn't anticipated that Benjamin having as much power as he did, but he was keeping a cool skull under pressure. Benjamin seemed to be getting more reluctant to keep going as the fight went on.

"Even If I Manage To Join The Royal Guard, Will It Even Be As Worth It As I Assume? I Want To Show Everyone That I'm  _More_ Than Another Messed Up Bonita, But Will I Ever Be As Happy As I Am Right Now? Even With That Awful Thing You Said About Me, I Still Think You're A Really Great Person!" Benjamin sent a flurry of white and blue feathers his way, which sans deftly dodged.

"You're Really Nice, Despite Your Horrible Taste In Brainteasers. You Could Have Avoided All Of My Traps, But You Willingly Went Through With Them." He sent a wave of constantly moving white feathers next. He nodded firmly to himself and cleared his throat.

"Alright! Let's Wrap This Up With A Bang! I'm going To Use My Special Attack!" Benjamin's magic formed around his arms, creating massive blue and white wings, crackling with energy. It would have made a impressive sight if a cat didn't launch itself at Benjamin's face out of nowhere. He yelped and caught the furry beast in his arms/wings before it fell on the ground.

"Callie?! What Are You Doing Here, I'm Busy!" The calico pawed at his left "wing" and started to bite it. Benjamin looked more mildly annoyed if anything. He let out a frustrated sigh.

"Why Does This Always Happens To Me?" With a flick of his arms, he dropped the feathers into a pile that Callie immediately pounced on, batting the various feathers around.

"Ok Change Of Plans, How About We Wrap This Up With A Kinda Cool Normal Attack?" With little pause, he summoned a bunch of blue and white feathers and send them at sans in the shape of a large tornado.

Sans balked at the thing making a beeline straight for him, but steeled his nerves. This fight was as good as done. He just had to survive this crazy attack. Using his magic as a boost, he maneuvered through the maelstrom of magic. He was certain he was done for when the attack stopped.

"Monster, I Have Decided That This Is Enough. You Have Adequately Paid For Your Insult." He moved closer and held out a hand "I Grant You Mercy, Monster."

***Benjamin is sparing you.**

sans absentmindedly spared him in return and took the offered hand. "thanks pall." Benjamin beamed at him before frowning lightly. "Your Injured. Would You Be Willing To Come With Me? I'm Certain I Can Heal You Up Properly." sans wasn't sure if he wanted to go through with that, but he was really worn out. Besides, he didn't think it was in Benjamin's character to try something.

"ok Benjamin, i'm trusting you." The small human's smile widened as he started to haul sans back to town.

x x x x x

Benjamin had dragged sans to the house on the outskirts of town. Casey was seated on the plush couch, watching a shiny gray human sing and dance, when she noticed them.

"Oh, you're done already? Thought you'd be busy for another hour at least. Need me to get the medical kit?" She didn't wait for an answer as she got up and started to dig around in a closet for something. Benjamin made him sit down in Casey's spot when she returned and handed him what looked like a small bag of gummy candies.

"This is all the healing items we've got for now. They're a rather sour, but the amount they heal make up for that pretty well. You're lucky, I was going to go sell these to Lola in half an hour." She handed her brother the med kit and took a seat on the other side of the couch. Benjamin had taken a hold of his arms and was inspecting it for damage. Luckily, there wasn't much, just a few scratches easily fixed with a plaster.

"So, If I Understand Correctly You're Trying To Make It To The Surface? I Can Tell You How To Get There. First You Just Have To Keep Going Forward Until You Reach Waterway, Then You Navigate the Caverns And Get To The Appropriate Lift In Magma Falls. Then You Need To Find The Castle, It's The Largest Building In The True Capital. The Barrier Is Just Beyond The Queen's Personal Garden." He paused in cleaning up one of the deeper cuts.

"You're Going To Have To Confront Queen Speros Head On Most Likely, But, Well... The Truth Is..."

"She's A Big, Sad Softy! Just Go Up To Her And Ask To Be Let Through! She Hates Fighting, Is Really Gloomy When Left To Her Own Devices And Spends Most Of Her Free Time Making Flower Crowns! Frankly, If We Weren't Used To Her Being This Way, Everyone In The Kingdom Would Be Concerned. But She's Been Like This Through Her Entire Time As Queen. She's Ruled For The last 1700 Years." 

sans probably wasn't as successful in hiding his shock as he thought if Benjamin's reaction was anything to go by. "Yes, Queen Speros Is  _Very_ old, Only The Seven Mages Are Older. She's A Determined!Soul Like Me And Casey. We can Live As long As We Have Determination To Boost Our Power. The Queen Is Probably The Most Powerful One That Will Ever Live." He finished of his work and nodded to himself.

"You're free to go now. The Barrier Is Magical In Nature. Anything Can Come Through, But Nothing Can Leave. Except Those With A Powerful SOUL. I'm Certain You'll Make It Through." With that he packed up his med kit and disappeared into the kitchen. sans quickly inspected himself to make sure all the damage was dealt with.

***Let's keep going sans.**

 sans had made it just out of the door when Casey caught up with him. 

"Hey monster! Wait up for a minute. Would you be willing to get some food? My treat, you've kinda had a rough day." She held a hand out expectedly. He could go for some actual food instead of healing items and pastries.

"this place you're bringing me have good burgers?" Her lips barely twitched, but he did see the small smile while it was there.

"Trust me, there's nothing Titos can't make. I'm convinced he could make a plate of dirt and pinecones taste amazing."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: if sans didn't make that comment at the bridge, Benjamin would have let him pass without any trouble.


	10. Spelunking

Casey guided sans to the bar, the two people seated there getting up with a nod. She returned the gesture and pointed at the menu hanging on the wall. It was quite expansive, boasting everything from hard to pronounce dishes to simple sandwiches.

"Order whatever you like, it's on me." She took out a phone to amuse herself, patiently waiting for him to finish deciding. "i think i'll have a cheeseburger. those come with fries right?" She nodded and signaled the man currently behind the bar.

"Hey uncle Titos." The bartender looked up from a drink he was making and raised an eyebrow at her. "A cheeseburger with fries and a spicy number two with extra ketchup. And can I have a secret keeper with lemon, no ice?" Titos looked at her over the top of his glasses, light grey eyes boring into hers.

"You know the agreement. No alcohol until  _at least_  seven people say you're in the clear." He ignored her huff of annoyance and with that disappeared into the back, one of the four waiters seamlessly taking over. Pretty soon he appeared with their orders. He took a minute to place a glass of some sort of juice in front of Casey before returning to his job.

"Look, I want to apologise for what happened back there. I knew that comment was going to piss Benjamin off, but I didn't warn you to stay away from the subject. It's kinda hard to remember that you don't know our customs, but that doesn't excuse it. I'm sorry."

sans honestly wasn't expecting that. He figured she wanted to talk about something on her term. He lightly patted her arm. "hey, don't sweat it. i'm a big kid, i can handle my screwups." She laughed very softly, and gave him the tiniest of smiles. "Soo, be honest. What do you think of my brother?" 

"i like em. pretty cool guy if you ask me. anyone that can appreciate a good puzzle is ok in my book." Casey rolled her eyes a bit at that. "Most would disagree. Benny can be... _exhausting_ to be around, especially for long periods of times. Most people don't think he's worth the extra effort. But you have to admire the tenacity he has when he wants something. Like joining the Royal Guard. He kept asking Atlas to join for months. His training's going pretty well, I'm really proud of him."

Casey packed her leftovers and went to pay at the register. "Before I forget, I was wondering. Have you seen a  _talking flower?"_  The warm atmosphere immediately dropped, a tense and heavy mood dominating the once lively place. sans could feel himself begin to sweat due to the sudden shift.

"i have." She didn't turn to look at him as she spoke.

"So you know about the repetition roses scattered throughout Waterway? Curious little things, they repeat the last thing they've heard until they pick up a new sound. Benjamin's been telling me about a rather... _curious_ one in particular. It shows up from time to time, whispering praise, ideas, _predictions_. I'm not very worried, strange strains of the plant pop up all the time, but I think you should keep your eyes and ears opened. Just in case, ya know?" With that the atmosphere disappeared as soon as it came and she left with a small wave.

***That was...interesting. I think we should get moving.**

x x x x x

The journey continued as sans made it to the border of Waterway. Casey was at what looked like checkpoint, not sparing him a glance as she finished her leftovers. He continued onward with a small hold up at the large waterfall (there was a tutu covered in some dried reddish brown thing that made the voice _very unnerved_. He left it alone.) It wasn't long until he noticed something in the distance while making his way through some tall grass. Benjamin was approaching a heavily armored figure covered mostly in shadows. A large midnight blue falcon was perched on its shoulders, eyes glowing white.

Hello Atlas, I've Brought My Weekly Report." He couldn't make out what the other person was saying since they where speaking at a normal volume.

"The Monster I Told You About? Yes, I've Fought Them Already."

"No, I Tried My Best, But I Wasn't Able To Capture Them, But Atlas-" Benjamin was cut off by what sounded like a sharp reprimand.

"I Know, But You Don't Need To Go After Them Yourself, I'll-" he was cut off again.

"I, I Understand Atlas. I Will Help In Any Way I Can." 

Without a word, Benjamin turned on his heels and started walking back towards Galeglade. Suddenly, the bird's head swivelled in sans' direction. The bird's owner immediately turned as well, pulling out a bow and forming a light green arrow in its hand. The figure slowly approached and when it deemed the area empty, it melted into the shadows and disappeared.

sans shakily made his way out of the grass, SOUL pounding fiercely against his ribs. He was so sure he was done for back there. It was then he noticed that the little girl, Moki, was huddled in the grass as well. She was balancing on a pair of clunky prosthetic legs, wobbling often. It didn't deter from her wide smile.

"Oh my gosh mr, did you see that?! He was looking right at you, I'm sooo jealous! Come on, you have to follow me. You haven't seen impressive till you've seen Atlas beat up evildoers!" With that she ran of, nearly tripping and falling. 

***A feeling of dread hangs over you. But you must, no, will stay determined.**

'you bet ya. no way i'm letting that weirdo scare me off.'

x x x x x

The next room was interesting. The traps revolved around aligning flowers in a straight line to make them bloom to make it across the various bodies of water. He wouldn't even know what to do if the voice wasn't there to translate the instructions. The wishing room was very beautiful, he even had a closer look with a rather old telescope, but sans couldn't help but feel uneasy. Pretty as the glimmering jewels in the stone ceiling were, they couldn't measure up to the actual night sky. He took extra care to not disturb the repetition roses and erase their messages.

After locating the secret passage, he found himself in a more open area, covered with water, boardwalks and plant life. What looked like a mural on the wall caught his attention. sans was silent as the voice started to translate with a solemn tone, different from their usual.

 ***Ancient writing covers the wall. The words are faded and barely understandable. "The** **war of monsters and humans ."**

***"Why did the monsters attack? To put it simply, fear. Back then things where different. Humans where the absurdly powerful ones. Indeed, to equal the power possessed by a single human SOUL, you would need ten thousand monster SOULS."**

***"Ironically our greatest strength was our greatest weakness. Our SOULS were so powerful they could persist outside of our bodies, even after death."**

***"If a monster were to beat a human, they could take their SOUL for themselves. A monster with the SOUL of a human... It would become a horrible beast with unimaginable power."**

***...It's an illustration of a strange creature. There is something immensely unsettling about it.**

 sans stepped onto the floating platform and didn't say anything. They voice sounded like they needed a moment. His thoughts were realing, so much of what he'd been taught about humans was just  _plain wrong_. He'd never imagine this it what they'd be up to. He, and many others, just figured they where anxiously waiting for some poor monster to fall into their clutches. He stepped of and immediately a feeling of dread creeped up his spine. He had a feeling he knew what was going to happen.

He moved forward, shadows dancing as he waited for the inevitable. Sure enough.

***Bang!!***

An arrow imbedded itself into the wood in front of him. He could barely make out Atlas firing at him from between the pillars. He dogded, ducked and weaved, but the arrows seemed endless and he was too worked up to find a pattern to exploit. Before he knew it.

_**crack** _

His SOUL scattered into a dozen pieces.

x x x x x

sans groaned as he slowly got up, the red glow a steadying presence. He let out a wince. He didn't think he would get used to that.

***Are you ok?**

"pretty good, all things considered. stars, that's uncomfortable." The red glow dimmed a little.

***I'm sorry, I should've been helping. Instead I let myself get distracted by emotions that I don't even know if they're mine. I made a promise, a vow, to protect and guide every monster that fell down.**

sans carefully reached out and petted the red glow. It brightened a bit. "hey, don't beat yourself up over something that isn't even your fault. i knew what was coming and still panicked instead of think things through. let's call it even, k?" The voice let out a low sigh. He had the impression it was smiling.

***Would you like to go to your last Save?**

"yes please."

x x x x x

_You cannot give in now. You must stay determined!_

x x x x so

Even if he knew what was coming, he had to be careful. Benjamin's blue attack had caught him off guard, and he had no clue as to what exactly Atlas could do. He was proven right when he got ambushed pretty much as soon as he got off the platform. He ducked and weaved between the wave of arrows, the voice giving him warnings when they got too close for comfort. He dove into the tall grass, hoping he wouldn't be found out.

Atlas's heavy, pounding footsteps moved through the grass. Lightning fast, he reached down and grabbed something moving. He slowly pulled who he had caught up. 

It was Moki, eyes glimmering despite the uncomfortable way she was held up by her sweater's collar. Starstruck, she waved at the armored figure holding her. Wordlessly he gently lowered the small girl onto the floor before leaving.

Sans waited a bit before getting out of the grass. That was way too close for comfort. Moki followed just behind him, still looking awed.

"O M G! He, he touched me! Everyone at school is going to be sooo jealous! You missed out. He almost grabbed you. See ya!" With that she ran off, stumbling a bit before righting herself.

sans decided to take a breather in the next room. It had a piece of what was probably cheese on the table next to a mouse hole.

***The cheese has been undisturbed for so long, a magic crystal has grown on it. It's pretty much stuck to the table.**

He noticed the usual Save point. This was going to keep happening wasn't?

***Knowing one day the mouse will figure out how to get the cheese out of its mystical prison, fills you with determination. Would you like to save?**

 "you know it buddy."

x x x x x

After a quick detour for some healing items, sans went onwards. The next room was beautiful, dark dirt covered in softly glowing foliage and brightly glowing water. The humans here where rather friendly and the repetition roses in this area had a rather sweet conversation tucked into their petals. Then another mural showed up.

***"The power to absorb a human's SOUL. How terrified our ancestors must've been."**

When sans entered the next room, he saw a human seated on a floating platform. They glumly kicked their feet in the shallow looking water. They blinked slowly at him.

"Oh, hi there? You're visiting Waterway, are you enjoying yourself?" Their platform bobbed along as sans went forward. "It's a pretty place, I'll give it that, but you can see things are starting to get crowded. Heh, at least I'm better off than my friends in the city, talk about packed tight." They kicked at the water some more before sighing wistfully. "If we ever get out, I'm moving to a little cabin by the ocean as soon as possible. That sounds nice." Their platform started to slowly move the other direction. They waved a little before turning their attention back to the shallows.

The next room was more caverns, though there were still a bunch of waterfalls.

***The room to the north hides a great secret. Want to check it out?**

"sure, sounds interesting." 

x x x x x

While trying to figure out what exactly to to with the piano, they found more murals

***There was no counter to this power, for humans could not take the SOUL of a monster for themselves. In the past a monster's SOUL would disappeared seconds before death. And to take the SOUL of a still living being is still impossible.**

***There is only one exception to this, the SOUL of a special type of monster called a "Boss monster". Their SOULS had the strength to persist after death, if only for a minute at most. But no human has ever done so, and no human ever will.**

The mood was rather gloomy, not helped by the rainy nature of the place. A rather old statue of a human with a bowed head underneath a dripping ceiling caught the voice's attention however.

***Its feet seem dry...**

Odd, the voice sounded like it knew what was amiss with the statue. sans picked up an umbrella from the bucket. He lightly twirled the umbrella around. Maybe it would help? It couldn't hurt to try. He brought the umbrella to the statue and carefully placed it in the crook of its arm. Rather quickly a sweet but haunting melody started to ring through the cavern. sans could feel relief flooding his SOUL, but he knew it wasn't his.

***The music box inside is playing again.**

Pretty quickly sans had the entire melody memorized and went back to the piano. He let the voice walk him through the proper keys to recreate it on the piano. He was very proud when a secret doorway opened up. He saw a large red orb was on the altar.

Before he could do anything a calico cat bounced past his feet, batted the orb off its place and somehow managed to carry the thing off. sans and the voice were both hopelessly confused as to what the hell they just witnessed. "i. i don't have words. i just don't. how 'bout we forget this entire sequence of events ever happened?"

***Agreed!**

x x x x x 

As he moved forward sans met Moki again, hiding in an alcove as she gave her prosthetics a worried look. "Hey mr! Think I can walk with you under that umbrella? My legs can't stand the amount of water that's dripping down from the ceiling." 

"sure thing kiddo." He moved slightly to make room for the tiny girl. As they moved forward she started to talk about Atlas again, bringing up his visit to the school a few months back to talk about responsibility.

When they made it to a large opening in the cavern wall, sans felt his jaw drop. Far in the distance, he could make out what looked like a gigantic building carved into the wall. Moki noticed his awe and shrugged a bit. "That's the Royal Palace. It was carved into the walls of the True Capital centuries ago. You can get inside through all five floors of the Capital it's so huge." She continued onwards, her skipping hampered slightly by the clunky prosthetics. 

They reached the end of the constant dripping, a low cliff. Moki gave it an annoyed look. "Aw man, I can't get my legs up there, they're too heavy for me right now. How bout you keep going, I'll find another way around. Bye bye mr!"

The first thing that sans noticed was the murals. He saved first.

***The serene sound of a music box far in the distance... It fills you with determination.**

***"The power to take a human's SOUL. The monsters were terrified out of their minds as to what we would do if we found out. Desperate, they declared war. The monsters attacked suddenly and violently."**

***"In the end, the war never actually happened. We surrendered, hoping they would calm down if we didn't act aggressive. Not a single monster died, and many humans fell due to monster paranoia."**

The next room was completely boardwalk and very dark with just barely enough light to see. In the distance, he heard a bird's cry. Suddenly the wood started to light up. He knew that color.

With little else warning him, arrow rained down from above, striking the glowing targets. Atlas was on the lower level, firing upwards. He quickly dove out of the way when he heard the bird's cries again. It must be guiding him. This was bad, he had to get out of here!

sans managed to dodge the arrows for the most part, but he didn't know where he was going. He was going to get cornered eventually. That happened all too soon for sans's taste and he glared and the armored figure slowly making its way towards him. He wouldn't let him enjoy this.

Suddenly, with a rain of arrows, the boardwalk was totaled. Once again, sans was falling.

x x x x x

_I could've sworn I heard something... oh! You've fallen down haven't you? Here, let me help you up._

_Do you know your name?... Huh, that's a nice name._

_My name  i s_  


	11. Waterway

sans groaned as he slowly got up. Strange, something about this felt, different, though he had no idea why. He inspect what he had landed on this time.

It was a bed of golden flowers. Strange.

sans just stared at the water around him. There was no way around, he was going to have to get in if he wanted to make any progress. He jumped in, ignoring the cold water, and started making his way. The waterfalls in this area where huge, most of them seemed to stretch all the way to the ceiling. There was a lot of garbage piled up, he even recognized a few of the brands.

After Saving and being confused as to why the cycle of useless garbage apparently filled him with determination, he continued wading through the knee high waters. He was almost at the end when something decided to show itself.

"AHA! I've finally found you, you worthless creature!" sans immediately back up from the strange woman.  She was floating a few inches above the water and was ghostly pale, her eyes pitch black had glowing pinpricks, her long sunset hair billowed in a non-existent wind and her lower legs were very faded. She kinda looked a bit like Nathan funnily enough.

"You met my dearest eldest sibling in the Abandoned City! They always go there when they feel gloomy, but when they came back! Tears, tears everywhere!! And the worst thing is they won't even tell me what happened!! Only that _you are the cause of it!!!_ " She summoned a bunch of small dummies connected to the strings coming from the back of her hand. Her hair flashes a deep crimson.

"Monster! For your actions against me and mine, I sentence you to death!"

***Maddie blocks the way.**

 

The dummies starting firing flickering balls of magic at him. They seemed to be able to track him a little. He dodged the projectiles just barely, getting distracted by her constant yelling.

***Maddie's a ghost, even if you attacked, it probably wouldn't work. They can only get injured by their own energy. Everything else goes right through them.**

'wait, her own attacks should be able to hurt her then.' sans could feel the voice was a little uncomfortable with attacking her, but he saw no other way to get her to back off than forcing a retreat.

The fight dragged on, Maddie getting more and more irritated and hostile as she continued to send wave after wave of attacks at him. She was fed up and just about ready to snap his neck clean off, sans could see it in her crazed look and her mad screaming. She suddenly pulled out an actual, physical knife. She twirled the knife in her faded hand and gave him a psychotic grin dripping with malice.

"Who needs those stupid puppets?! I'll kill you myself!!" With a mighty heave, she threw the knife at him.

An akward silence filled the battlefield.

"That. Was my only knife... Who cares! I'm not letting you go!! You and me are going to be stuck here forever if I have anything to say about it!!!" She broke out into mad laughter, her form flickering in and out at random. Suddenly she stopped and somehow paled more.

"Maddie, who are you harassing this time?" Nathan floated from somewhere behind sans and gave her a questioning look. Her hair stopped flashing crimson as she floated lower to the water, unwilling to look him in the eyes. She grabbed some of her hair and started to mess with it, her response a low mumble.

"I know you worry about me, but you don't have to fight everything you think makes me upset. I really don't want to do this, but if you insist on being so impulsive about your actions, you're now grounded for a month, understood?" She simply nodded her head and floated over to Nathan, burrowing her face into his back. Nathan, suddenly aware that sans had watched the entire exchange, blushed gray and started to shuffle around akwardly. 

"I'm sorry, you didn't need to hear that. I, I apologise for my youngest sibling's behavior towards you. Uh... If you like you can come dry off at our place? I, can't remember it but I think being in wet clothes is supposed to be uncomfortable? You can do whatever, really. Just.. wanted you to know and, stuff." With that the two ghosts floated of, leaving sans in the waters.

'well, that was an interesting development.'

. . . 

The next cavern was, still. It had a sense of peace that reminded him of a quiet forest, one he hadn't seen in the rest of the area.

***You feel a sense of calm and tranquility. It fills you with determination.**

***Let's take up Nathan's offer. I can't imagine walking around waterlogged is comfortable.**

sans approached what he assumed was the ghost family's house and politely knocked. Nathan opened up with a stunned look on his face.

"Oh, you.. you actually came. I didn't think you'd actually come... Please come in, sorry about the mess." He gestured behind him and let sans in.

The house was rather bare and drab with only the basics and not much else. One of the only personal touches was a shelf covered in various instruments and CDs and a computer pushed into the corner. sans actually noticed that Maddie was in the room, floating in one of the corners of the ceiling. Her hair flashed red, but she simply scowled before turning her back to him. Nathan was rather nervously fidgeting.

"Uh, our house is pretty dry, so you should be good in a few minutes. I'm sorry, I'd offer you something to eat, but I don't think we have anything edible in the house for years. You can, check out our music selection? It's mostly original stuff, but it's all we have." His words faded until they were a low, almost inaudible mumble. 

sans simple sat at the table, messing around with the various pieces of music. Nathan, and occasionally Maddie, would comment about the piece he was listening too. Pretty soon he was dry again and sans got up.

"i appreciate the hospitality, i'll get out of your way now." Nathan and surprisingly Maddie both bid him goodbye and hopes his journey would be a good one.

The next thing that caught sans's interest was a little old lady dressed in rain gear in an alcove. She had various goods set out and was keeping herself busy with knitting something. When she looked up at him she gave him a toothy grin.

"Well hello there! I'm Gerarda ,I have some neat stuff for sale, are you interested in taking a look?" He could use some more healing items, he was almost out of the ones Casey had given him. He decided to make some small talk while he looked at what she had to offer.

"so, what are you up to besides selling things?" 

"Oh, I'm retired. This stall and everything else I do is mostly to keep busy. I'm dabbling in history right now, sure is easy when there are a bunch of people from that time period to tell you things that would normally get lost to time. I've been focusing on the Delta Rune, the symbol of our Kingdom. It's the one on the wall right next to me." She pointed to the recurring symbol sans had come across.

"It's from a time before humanity was banished to the underground. All we know for certain is that the circles on the bottom represent us humans, and the winged triangle is... something. Apparently it's about the prophecy, how an angel that has seen the world above will descend down and free us all. Of course, there's a  cynical bunch that say it's about the "angel of death", coming to "free" us from this cruel plane of existence. Personally, I just think it's neat! I wonder who even came up with it."

"say, would you be willing to tell me about the queen?" She gave him a quizzical look.

"Huh, thought you would open with that. Always good to know the enemy. Queen Artemis is just sad. Like, really sad. But she cared so much about her people and their wellbeing, if you stick around you'll eventually see her visiting the rest of the Kingdom. She's the kindest person we could have hoped for." Gerarda suddenly started to chuckle.

"Now Atlas! That's the Kingdom's passionate, fiery troublemaker, which is ironic considering his water alignment. He's always wanted to do everything in his power to make her Majesty proud or happy. He's the Kingdom's hero, Humanity's Warrior. You know, he just came through here asking about someone that looks like you. I'd be careful monster, he's not one to give up easily." sans froze at that.

"Oh come now, the young ones may not know how to spot a monster, but I'm  _very old_. I have no interest getting involved with this, only her Majesty can decide if you live. Good luck."

. . .

sans had hoped he was done with the murals, but apparently the tale was not done yet.

***"Our attempt to resolve things peacefully had backfired horribly, and we were unceremoniously thrown into this prison, with an impenetrable barrier built with the SOULS of their seven most powerful to keep us trapped. Anything can enter, but only those with a truly powerful SOUL can leave."**

***"There is only one way out. If an amount of power equal or greater than that of the SOULS used to create it were to attack it, the barrier would be permanently destroyed."**

sans could feel emotions that weren't his well up. He felt as if he somehow already knew this tale.

***But there is no way into this cursed place. A monster, much less a Boss Monster,will never fall. We will remain here, trapped, for all eternity.**

sans let the voice have a moment to compose themselves. The dark rooms were a bit tricky, but he was proud to have figured it out without any assistance. He was worried about the steadily darkening room he was currently, though. He jumped a little when he realized he'd set off a repetition rose.

"B e h i n d  y o u."

 

Slowly, he looked behind him and sure enough, there was Atlas in his full glory. His bird was perched on his shoulders, wings spread out dramatically and ready to attack. His heavy footsteps echoed off the walls of the narrow hall. He started to talk in a deep, powerful voice.

"Seven."

"Seven monster SOULS."

"With their power, our queen,  _Artemis Speros_ , will ascend and become a god. She will finally destroy the barrier, take back the surface from monster kind, and will rain onto them the suffering and pain they have forced upon us." Wait a minute,  _Artemis Speros?!_ The evil human out for his SOUL and the kind-hearted queen of humanity were one in thet same!?!

"So monster, do you understand? This is your only chance at repentance. Give up your SOUL, or I'll rip it out myself." He readied his bow and waited for sans's response. He never got a chance to hear it as Moki decided to wobble into the encounter, nearly landing on the dirt between them.

"Go get em Atlas! I'll help you fight!!" Moki turned to sans with an excited grin. "Can you believe it?! We're gonna have front row seats to the battle!!" Moki was suddenly aware who exactly Atlas was aiming at.

"Huh? What's going on??" She didn't get much further before Atlas surged forward and grabbed her by her sweater and started dragging her away.

"Hey, hold up!! You're not gonna tell my parents are you?!" With that sans was alone again. Stars that was a close call. Warily, he slowly moved back the direction he came from. He could see a path now that the lights had returned. He was a bit confused but mostly happy with how the conversation from the repetition roses ended. He noticed one last mural.

 ***"But according to the old prophecy, an angel will descend from above, and free us from this prison."**  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sweet tits this took so long. Had trouble figuring out where exactly to stop this chapter.


	12. Arrows of Righteousness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *blows months worth of dust off chapter* Jesus Christ and his mother Mary this took a while. So sorry anyone that's actually still reading this, I've been dragged down deep into batim hell and basically ignored this.

sans was nearly off the narrow bridge when he heard something.

"Hey mr, wait up!" sans turned to the voice calling him, a rather confused expression on his face. It was Moki, nervously shuffling closer to him. She was fidgeting with the hem of her sweater but had a determined look on her face.

"I, I have a question? Atlas said that you're a monster! Well, he said "stay away from that monster" but still! Is what he said about you true? Please, tell me the truth. You, you're a monster?" There was a look of desperation on her face, silently begging him to say she was wrong.

But lying to her wouldn't achieve anything, would it?

"yeah, he's telling the truth. i'm a monster." The determined look was replaced by an absolutely heartbroken one as she started to weep.

"What?!? That, that can't be true, you've been so nice to me to me!?! I don't understand, monsters _hate_ humans, absolutely _loathe us_. You trapped all of us in this hellhole over something some of us could _potentially_ do. You helped me out so many times and didn't even ask for something in return..." tears streamed down her cheeks as she stubbornly scrubbed at her face. She glared rather ineffectively at him.

"C-could you say something mean? Ya know, so I can hate you?"

sans couldn't really help himself as he reached out to softly pat her on the head. "i'm sorry kid, but i won't be doing that." She looked up at him with her tear stained face but didn't protest. She sniffled and took a wobbly step back, still scrubbing at her face.

"I'm going home, see ya..." As she walked across the narrow bridge one of the planks gave way under her feet, sending her tumbling down. The tiny girl just barely managed to grab onto the rest of the bridge. Her tears came flooding again, only this time they were terror filled.

"H-help!! Somebody help me!! Pl-please, I d-don't wanna die!!" Moki wailed, desperately holding on. sans immediately panicked. If she couldn't get her prosthetics up a small cliff there was no way she could pull herself up from this.

He froze when he heard the sound of magic. Atlas's magic. He knew that logically, he should run while he still had the chance.

But he wasn't about to let a little kid die because he was too cowardly to do something. Mind made up, sans activated his blue magic, keeping her up when gravity insisted she had to go down. He reach for her hands and grabbed, slowly pulling her up.

Moki looked at him, eyes shimmering. She looked behind him and suddenly lurched up, jumping over the new hole and glared at Atlas, who was much closer than sans anticipated.

"H-hey! I'm not going to let you hurt him! If you want to get to him, you'll have to get through me!" She held up her arms and a small shower of sparks danced on her fingertips.

The large bird on Atlas's shoulder cocked his head, obviously confused as to what the tiny thing was attempting to do. Wordlessly, Atlas started to move back. When he disappeared completely Moki let out a strangled breath before dropping to her knees.

"Oh my Sun I can't believe I did that! I thought I was toast for a second." she giggled a bit and turned to look at sans.

"Well, I still think your really nice mr. For what it's worth, I'd rather stay friends with you, if you don't mind?" She got up and dusted her skirt off.

"I need to get home, my parents are going to be really mad if they find out that I left. See ya!" She quickly bound forward to give him a hug and went off, humming softly.

And with that sans was alone again.

. . .

As he approached the large cave in the distance, sans had a feeling something big was going to happen pretty soon.

Sure enough, Atlas was seated on top of the entrance; his falcon perched on his shoulders with its wings draped elegantly across his back. sans could practically feel him glaring daggers into him. Suddenly, he started to speak, intent dripping of every word.

"Seven."

"With the might of seven Boss Monster SOULS, queen Artemis will ascend and become a goddess."

He slowly stood up and pulled his bow from behind him, magic crackling around his hands.

"Six."

"We have already collected six of these necessary SOULS." 

"You, monster, are the seventh and final SOUL. With your SOUL, this world will be remade."

"As is required of me, I will tell you the tale of our people. Once, a long time ago..."

"....."

"You know what?! Forget this!! Why should I tell you anything?! Your already dead!!"

With a roar he ripped of his helmet and for the first time sans saw the person under the armor. He couldn't help but feel his eyelights get drawn to the large eye patch that cover a good chunk of his upper right face, thick scars poking out from underneath it onto his right cheek. Atlas's bright green eye narrowed and his green-streaked blonde hair was wiping in the strong wind.

"You! Only you stand between the hopes and dreams of everyone in this kingdom! After what Alphonse showed me, I actually thought monsters could be different. Your tales of passion and joys, friendship defeating the most powerful of adversities! But they were all a lie." He glared at sans fiercely.

"You're nothing but a dirty coward. I saw what you did, lying to that little girl so you'd have a meat shield to hold between you and danger. And don't get me started on that goody two shoes act your pulling. Words can't describe how disgusted I am with you." Atlas suddenly smirked.

"Right now, in this moment, I can feel each and every heart in this kingdom's past and present pounding in synch with my own! We have waited centuries for this moment to arrive, and while we are afraid we will not let our fear stop us now we're finally so close!" He pointed a single finger at sans.

"Your life is all we need to achieve freedom at last! You should feel honored monster, I intend to show how determined humanity still is! Now, step forward when you're ready to meet your fate."

***The wind is howling, but you are filled with determination.**

'you know it. let's go for it.'

sans stepped forward as the human's smirk widened. 

"So this is it, no more running! Prepare yourself monster, here I come!!" He leaped down from his perch, the falcon stalling his descent. He pulled on his magic and fired an arrow that struck sans in the shoulder. His eye sockets widened as he felt the telltale sensation of green magic wrapping tightly around his SOUL.

***Atlas strikes!**

 

 

"In the grips of my green magic, running away is no longer an option! If you intend to make it through this Encounter, you'll have to face me head on!" sans glared a little at the two blocking his before he smirked a little.

"oh please, anything you can throw at me is going to be so easy to dodge."

***Atlas takes great offense to your taunt. The arrows get faster.**

 

 

His visible eyebrow twitched wildly before he started to rapidly fire arrows. sans immediately summoned a bone and knocked them away, making a come hither gesture.

***Atlas suplexes a boulder simply to prove that he can.**

 

 

'stars, he's almost scarily similar to Undyne.' And wasn't that a thought? Few had the sheer intensity of Asgore's star pupil, but here this guy was matching her attitude almost easily.

The battle raged on, sans' bones clashing against arrow after arrow. The amount of arrows flying around was almost unfair as Atlas wailed on him in between his various rantings about sans' insistence to keep getting up. He was minutely distracted when the voice started to speak.

***sans, you really, _really_ can't beat him head-on like this. You need to make a run for it as soon as you can.**

'but won't that piss him off?'

***Would you rather live to see the sun again?**

The voice did have a point, there was no way he was going to get Atlas to yield. He needed to take the first chance he got to make a run for it. Mercifully, that chance didn't take too long to show up as Atlas let go of his deathgrip on his SOUL to strike at him with a blue attack. sans immediately left the Encounter, Atlas hot on his trail. Sans cursed when he was pulled back.

"Don't think I'm going to let you get away that easily!"

Both of them paused when the sound of a phone rang loud and clear.

***You need to pick that up.**

'are you serious right now?! i could get killed!'

***But if you don't answer you'll be rude.**

'Oh for the love of-. fine.' sans turned to look at Atlas and was slightly confused that he had stopped his assault, patiently tapping his feet as he waited for sans to finish with his call. Well wasn't that strangely nice.

"Hello?"

"Hello Monster!" Benjamin's chipper voice came through bright and clear. 

"uh, hi Benjamin. Do you need something? I'm kinda in the middle of something that demands my attention." sans mouthed a quick "sorry" at Atlas, who simply shrugged at him before sighing.

"Indeed I Do! I Believe I May Have A Way To Get Atlas To See Reason. Would You Be Willing to Meet Me In Waterway, Near Gerarda's Shop?"

"i'll see what i can do." With that he hung up and the fight resumed.

"Don't think I'll let you get away another time!" With a roar he let loose a flurry of arrows, materializing from all around sans. sans ran for it as quick as possible, just barely glancing at the steel sign stating "now entering : Magma Falls".

He noticed Casey napping in a nearby sentry booth, dead to the world. Figuring that she probably wasn't going to help he kept running, pausing when he heard a yell. He was stunned when he turned around and saw that Atlas, in his blind determined bullrush, was teetering on the edge of the narrow bridge. It was then he noticed that the intense heat was coming from the glowing _magma._

sans acted on instinct when he reached out to grab him with his magic. Even if he was trying to kill him, letting him fall to such a horrible death was something he wouldn't wish on his worst enemy (ironic, considering his opinion on humanity a mere few days ago).

Atlas stopped looking at the magma underneath him and stared at him, an unreadable expression on his face. It didn't go away when his feet touched the ground and his bird landed on his shoulder, anxiously twittering at him.

With a final indescribable look, Atlas limped off.

'that, was a bit too intense for my tastes.' sans took a quick drink at the water cooler before moving forward, eyes drawn to the large building up ahead.

 ***Seeing such a strange yet fitting laboratory out here** **, it fills you with determination.**

sans decided to explore the area to his right first. He was slightly surprised to see a strange person in a hooded cloak seated in a boat.

"Hi hihi. Hello there, I am of the river people, dedicated to the way of the waves. I would gladly give you a ride to one of the destinations on my route. I go through Galeglade, Waterway, and Magma Falls. Would you care for a ride? Hi hihi."

sans weighed his options. He really should try to get to the True Capital and plead his case to the queen, but...

***You promised Benjamin that you'd meet up with him though. Besides, Atlas is the head of the Royal Guard, Humanity's Warrior. His words can make things much more difficult than they already are.**

The voice made a good point though.

"Could you bring me to Waterway?" He had a feeling the strange figure was smiling widely.

"Hi hihi. But of course~. Get on." sans took a seat and the boat started to move, going faster than sans had figured it could.

"Hi hihi" the figure suddenly spoke "Ah, that long distant melody and it's still painful memory. Do you wish to join it?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *sees that TiniBopper left a kudos, dies instantly because oh wow I'm honored*


	13. Doctor's appointment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be an interlude dammit. Why are you like this?  
> Muse: oh I'm sorry, do you not want my help anymore? I can leave if that's what you want.  
> O_O oh no no no, we're good really.

sans let his thoughts wander as the boatsman (boats woman?) continued to ferry him. He wasn't sure what exactly Benjamin had planned, but he was cautiously optimistic.

***Don't worry too much. Atlas is pretty proud, but unless he's changed drastically since the last time I'd seen him, he's a very reasonable person.**

Well, that eased his fears at least a little bit. He still couldn't shake off the need to just run though.

Maybe a change in topic would help calm his nerves.

'say. do you, remember what it was like? when you were still alive?' sans could feel the voice freeze up. Stunned that he was bothering to ask. After a long time that felt like years, they started to speak, hesitation in every word.

***I... I...**

***My name was, is Frisk. I used to be fox.**

***And there were people that really cared about me.**

Sans had a feeling the voice, Frisk, wasn't going to say more on the subject, so he sat back and went back to his own thoughts.

Privately, he swore to address them by their actual name.

. . .

Benjamin was waiting right were he said he would, bouncing a little on his heels. The calico cat that tended to show up at random was seated on his head, purring loudly.

Unperturbed by the cat seated on him, he gave sans a cheery grin as he reached up to stroked the cat's head.

"Hello Monster! I'm So Glad You Actually Came! Please, Come Along Now, We Have An Appointment At The Vet And I Don't Want To Be Late. Could You Hold Callie? She gets Very Nervous When Visiting But I Do Need Both My Hands." Benjamin swiftly dumped his cat into sans' arms and started to lead the way to their destination.

Soon they arrived at a part of Waterway that sans hadn't bothered exploring, headed straight for one of the biggest buildings in the area. There were two plaques hanging from a rod at the corner.

\- Waterway training grounds

-Captain Atlas, head of the Royal Guard

 

\- Dr. A. Speros, head veterinarian

\- The Shining Sun Animal Sanctuary and Clinic

"Hiii Atlas!" Benjamin greeted as he opened the door, obviously not the least bit concerned with his entrance. sans watched followed close behind him and looked around the room.

It was a strange but somehow fitting mixture of a clinic and a daycare. There were a bunch of clean tables to the right and a bunch of veterinary equipment visible through the clear glass keeping it safe, a plethora of posters (informative and otherwise) decorating the part where seats were set up.

Over to the left of him there was a large playpen filled with various critters big and small, furry or scaly. He was shocked to see the large falcon he'd seen constantly on Atlas's shoulder or chasing after him seated on the pen's edge, mostly watching and cooing, while occasionally letting out a low warning sound whenever one of the animals was getting too rough or aggressive. The more he thought about it the less scared and more confused sans became. Did the bird have a part-time job or something?

The door at the back of the room swung open and out came Atlas, carrying a bunny and dressed in a _doctor's coat with his name stitched onto it._

sans' eyesockets widened as pieces started to connect. 'oh crap, does that mean that Atlas is part of the Royal family?!?' Convincing him to back off was going to be literally _impossible!_

Frisk however was having absolutely none of his defeatist nonsense and immediately jumped him (metaphorically speaking), their tone almost angry.

***Don't say that! You won't get out of here with that attitude, you must stay determined.**

"I'm coming Benjamin! By the moon you don't need to-" whatever he was going about to say was abruptly stopped.

The tension in the air was thick enough to cut with a knife. Benjamin paid little attention to the shift in atmosphere and started the introductions.

"Atlas, This Is The Monster, But You've Already Met Of Course! Monster, This Is Atlas Speros, head Of The Royal Guard, Eldest Of The Queen And Our Heir, And The Most Knowledgeable Veterinarian In The Kingdom For The Last 220 Years. He Has Me Help Around Here In Exchange For Training To Become A Royal Guard!"

The large bird hopped off its perch and landed on Benjamin's shoulder (who was somehow still standing despite the large bird balanced on him) and let out a sweet chirping song before nuzzling his cheek. Benjamin only laughed as he tried to push the bird off of him. "And This Is Dawn, Atlas's Most Beloved Companion In All The Kingdom. Isn't She A Sweetheart?" he fondly scratched the large avian's head. Callie had then decided that she didn't want to be held anymore and quickly got out of sans' grip.

Atlas's eye and fingers twitched, but after a quick glance at the other animals in the room he sighed.

"Hello, pleasure to meet you." he practically spat out.

"uh, hi." sans held out a hand to shake. As he'd expected, Atlas sneered at it and walked off. He very carefully put the bunny into the pen and leaned against one of the tables, glaring at sans and giving Benjamin a questioning look.

"Ok Benjamin, what exactly are you trying to accomplish here?" Benjamin closed his eyes and rocked on his heels, hands clasped tightly behind his back.

"Simple, I Believe That The Monster Should Be Allowed To Plead His Case To The Queen. He Is After All The Last SOUL We need, It's Only Fair That He's Given The Option All Others Received." He peaked at them both with one eye (was it just sans or was it glowing?) and smiled softly.

"Besides, You Do Remember The Queen's Orders Regarding His Type Of Monster? I Know You Mean Well, But She'd Be More Disappointed In You Than I Am." That obviously struck a chord with the blonde, as his eye widened before he looked away to hide that it happened.

"Well! I Have Plans For Today, So I Hope That The Monster Is An Adequate Replacement For The Next Two Hours Or So? Good, Great!! I'll Be Back Soon!" and with that Benjamin flung himself backwards through the very conveniently open window.

"I should've known he'd pull this the minute he asked me open the damn window." Atlas grumbled. He glared at sans again, but a chunk of the heat behind it was gone, replaced with an icy chill.

"Well then _assistant_ , looks like your stuck with me for the next two hour or so. I'd honestly prefer to cave your skull in, but I've got a lot to do and need the extra hands. I will tolerate you for now, but if you fuck around with these animals I will _make you crave the sweet release of death_. Got it monster?" sans sweated under the chilly gaze but steeled himself. If he could get Atlas off his case (or better yet, on his side) his inevitable confrontation with the queen would go a lot easier.

But honestly, he just wanted to show Atlas that monsters weren't as bad as he believed, and the best way to do that would be to prove him wrong.

. . .

Atlas had not been kidding when he'd said that things were busy. sans was just barely keeping up with the workflow, and he'd been put to mostly handling paperwork and such; things that didn't need Atlas's years of experience to handle.

Despite the busyness sans was able to find time to just watch the people that came in. There were humans coming in to do some basic checkups on their animal companions (like the troup of Galeglade guards and their dogs) or coming to pick up their pets from the daycare (Drake had showed up to picked up a sweet black bunny), or just coming in for general advice. It was more the huge amount of people showing up that made the timeframe so hectic.

At the start Atlas had been harsh. He barked his orders with a barely restrained anger bubbling underneath the words and ran sans ragged. But as the clock ticked on, more people came in and the workload picked up, he calmed down by the minute, getting into the zone of his work and working on the animals. He'd even started to just talk to sans without sneering.

Eventually the number of people started to dwindle, things calming down significantly. Atlas groaned as he rolled his head, arms stretched out above his head. He gave sans a rather strange and confused look before he suddenly lunged at sans, a glowing arrow in his clenched fist.

Not expecting it, he immediately jumped backwards and started to scan the area for an escape. He didn't get even a second before a small hit and a heavy sensation of green magic affecting him struck. 

"Un-fucking-believable, you didn't attack. Not even for a split second were you on the offence." sans looked up at Atlas, who has a very confused but awed expression. As soon as he's looked up the magic released and Atlas was kneeling in front of him, a hand held out.

"You really do mean it don't you? Your not going to attack anyone, no matter what happens." sans was a little reluctant to take the offered limb, but Frisk was quite happy about it.

***Great going sans! You made it through to him, that's one more person that can vouch for you.**

After letting Atlas pull him up, Benjamin suddenly appeared, smiling widely.

"See? What Did I Tell You Atlas, He Deserves It!" The blonde simply smiled at him.

"Well I'd say you deserve some compensation for that whole nonsense I put you through. How about you come over for tea for a bit?"

"sure pall, i'd like that. see ya Benjamin." Benjamin gave him an immensely goofy grin and disappeared through the open window while Atlas went through the door he'd initially come through. When he came back out he was dressed in rather worn jeans, a dark tank top and sturdy boots.

sans couldn't help but recoil when he got a good look at him. No longer hidden by his armor or doctor's coat, the deep scars now visible on his upper chest and shoulders obviously went down further, disrupting the otherwise smooth flow of stylized water tattoos. sans couldn't even begin to imagine what could have caused them. Atlas made a face at him.

"What, never seen someone that got into a fight with a mountain King and lost horribly? 'Cause that's pretty much what happened."

"a, mountain king?" He nodded, one of his hands reaching up to trace the edge of his facial scars.

"Yep. Basically, the barrier effects everything trapped under it to an extent, and the mountain king is one of them. They're some combination of dragon, lion and goat? When I was younger and still learning about veterinary work, I saw a young one wandering around, and like an idiot I forgot that the mother's always close." He tapped the side of his head were his eyepatch covered most. "She was not happy with some strange guy getting near her cub and attacked. Only reason I didn't die was because I had enough internal green magic to keep myself alive till help got there."

Atlas fetched a key out of his pocket and opened the door next to the clinic. Inside was a rather cozy place, books, scrolls and parchments scattered about every which way. Atlas blushed in embarrassment as he looked at the mess.

"Sorry about the mess, I wasn't expecting company till later in the week so I haven't been picking up after myself. Please have a seat." he gestured at the dining table.

"here, let me help-!" sans jumped as a crackling arrow imbedded into the floor in front off him. Atlas only gave him a calm if slightly annoyed look.

"Please take your shoes off, I don't want to have any mud to clean up. And seriously, you're the guest here, sit down already." Atlas put away the bow and turned around to start rummaging in his cupboards and came back with a selection of teas.

sans recognized one of them, the golden flower tea.

"hey, how about this one?" He lightly tapped the box. Atlas looked down at it.

"Oh, that's golden tea. We make it with some special flowers that don't grow that much. You monsters call em golden flowers though, which is a pretty stupid name if you ask me." So that's with the random patches of the flowers scattered about, those seeds tend to get everywhere.

As he went about making the requested tea, Atlas started to chuckle softly to himself.

"You know monster," he started as he put the teapot, cups and sugar on the table "this is my mom's favorite. She always drinks it when visiting."

"your mom is queen Artemis right?"

Atlas signed contently. "Yeah, but not by blood. She adopted me a really long time ago." Suddenly Atlas burst into loud laughter. sans gave him a confused look, unsure what had prompted the outburst. Altas just kept laughing, but eventually took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry, it's just. I haven't thought about how we actually met in so long. You see, I was orphaned pretty young and was seriously a troublemaker. The other kids didn't like me much. One day, I brilliantly decided that I was going to prove myself to them by beating the god damn Queen herself." sans ended up snorting loudly, Atlas pouting dramatically.

"Yep, the genius of a Determined!Soul not even a decade old. I matched up there, right into her garden, and challenged her. And you know what's really funny?" 

"Not once did she fight back, she just kept working in her garden, occasionally dodging, untill I'd tired myself out." A soft smile spread across his face "She said that she knew I was lonely, and that I could come visit her whenever I wanted for whatever reason. Know that I think about it that was probably the moment she became my mom. It wasn't till years later, after the mountain king incident and I nearly died, that she became my mother officially."

"she sounds like an amazing woman." The soft smile didn't disappear.

"Yeah, she really is. We couldn't have asked for a better Queen, and I couldn't have asked for a better mother."

The two of them sat in a rather comfortable silence, sipping the sweet tea.

"say," sans started a little awkwardly "what does helping animals have to do with Royal Guard things?"

Atlas finished his cup and answered as he poured himself another one. "Nothing really, Benjamin really doesn't have the right mindset to thrive in this environment, I'd be reluctant to let him join even without his mental issues." sans blinked at that last bit.

""mental issues?"

"Yep, just his name makes people side eye him and Casey. The Bonita family is considered cursed by the barrier itself for their talent that could take it down, there's no one with that name that didn't have some sort of mental problem in their life at some point. But if that crazy kid's one thing it stubborn. He needs to do _something_ to keep it together, and I'm willing to help out. Besides, keeping him busy isn't too hard." 

sans reached for the teapot as he processed the new information he was given.

Eventually the tea was done. Atlas got up and started to collect the now dirty cups.

"Well monster, you've got me on your side! Your going to have to make it through Magma Falls yourself though, I can't really help out till you get to the Queen. It's protocol, nothing personal." 

Sand got up and collected his shoes from their spot next to the door.

***Come on sans, we need to save again before going forward.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Atlas would not be inclined to think sans is harmless because of his attack not hurting. He would however be impressed with sans not taking the chance to antagonize him when he had the chance to do so without consequences, not going to the petty levels Atlas very much did, and even more so with him helping with minimal complaints.
> 
> No house fire here, Atlas is very serious about protecting the kingdom.


End file.
